I was curious about the Penstemon Ruby Candle also. Did your plants ever grow? Did the Hummingbirds like them, and did they flop over or stand up well? Thanks for any info.

Sue unfortunately they did not come back.

I checked daily (obsessively lol) hoping to see new growth. I eventually accepted they just weren’t coming back.

I was heartbroken.....:(

Wow, that is a beautiful photo, I'm going to give them a try and order some from Dutch Gardens. I will let everyone know how well they grow.

And "GardenHo" I wonder what happened to yours. Maybe some thing underground like a grub or something got to the roots? Just try again!

No, outside the native range, that's typical behavior. They are pretty though...so are lupines...neither of which grows here (for long). I regard them as summer annuals.

Sue I’m not sure of the cause. Perhaps it was the bed I planted them in (dry one)?Watered too much getting established? I really don’t know.

You got me excited to see that you found them! Until I read the reviews for Dutch Gardens. If you go to garden watchdog and read their reviews, you will see they aren’t very favourable...

IME many Penstemons like well drained soi, particularly in winter. Mine are often planted on a slope so that water drains away.

I second the warning against Dutch Gardens. When more than half of the reviews are negative, find another supplier.

https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/241/0/#b

Babs mine were in my (dry) sloped bed, so I’m not sure what happened. Just know I was so looking forward to seeing these beauties return...

To GardenHo_MI_Z5 I trust Dutch Gardens and have used them for years. Are you sure you are not confusing them with "Royal Dutch Gardens"? I have heard that they have a reputation they need to improve upon. As a matter of fact many websites get hacked and never warn their customers- in the past when Dutch Gardens got hacked they sent out a letter to inform each customer. I thought that was very considerate of them. So double check that name.

Dutch Gardens -- now there's a blast from the past! When I first got into gardening, I used to love perusing their catalogs. I placed orders from them multiple times over the years and was always pleased. I haven't ordered from them in 15-20 years or so, though -- no idea what their quality is like now.

They have complaints against them on BBB:

https://www.bbb.org/us/il/bloomington/profile/catalog-shopping/dutch-gardens-usa-inc-0724-90015586

Google reviews are horrible, and D**esGar**n has over 80 negatives. So yea, I'd probably steer clear.

What a shame. Back in the day they were great.

Hmmm. Weird I have had excellent bulbs and service from them. Maybe I'm lucky.

Just curious, why would US customers order bulbs which have to be shipped from the Netherlands when there are perfectly bulb growing areas in the US? Holland is less than 130miles from me, as the crow flies...but I still order British bulbs (which are basically grown in the next county). Cost, I guess, but I dislike ordering anything from nurseries which are not remotely in my locale, although I might risk it for a rare or precious must-have plant...but bulbs?

Interesting question, Camps. As far as I can tell, most US bulbs are sourced from the Netherlands. I honestly don’t know of any large bulb production facilities in the US though there may be some. I buy from US companies, but AFAIK, all of them are selling European produced bulbs, even when they are doing product development and breeding here.

When I was in Holland I saw many huge commercial greenhouses outside the city of Amsterdam, out in the country side. I've never seen anything like it in the USA. Seems like a big business there, but not in USA that I ever heard of.

I always have lots of the SW native types of penstemons. Here in central Oklahoma we don't have the dryer high plains or mountain climate that exists where they grow naturally but I have good drainage. They perform like short lived perennials, some live a couple to three years, others just a single season. Each plant produces hundreds of seeds in very hard pods with sharp pointed ends that I break apart once they mature and dry out. I scatter the seeds around and they replenish themselves quite nicely and do well even in shade. They are evergreen---the leaves are waxy pinkish blue all winter.

They are very stiff and never flop.

Sue Hughes, you would be mistaken in your assumption that the US doesn't grow a lot of bulbs.

Rhizo- I have no idea how many bulbs the USA grows, just saying I never saw so many greenhouses in my life until Holland. Maybe in US they just don't use green houses so it's not as noticeable, but its very obvious in Holland because of all the large commercial greenhouses.

Rhizo, I am honestly wondering, where in the US are there production facilities for bulbs?

'Arabesque Red' is a good choice if folks wish to grow their own from seed.

NHBabs and Rhizo I was curious so I googled the question "what country grows the most tulip bulbs?" and got this: "The Netherlands accounts for nearly 90 percent of the world's total area of tulip farms planted annually, about 11,000 hectares." ...But I'm not sure about any other types of bulbs. Also never saw anything in USA like Amsterdams amazing Bloemenmarkt. Being a plant lover it was like a wild dream come true shopping on the street at shop after shop of fresh flowers, bulbs, other plants!

FrozeBudd thanks for info on 'Arabesque Red' being a good choice from seed!

OK, so it is a question of scale and cost. For sure, Dutch bulbs have conquered the global market ...but ethics in capitalism underlines many of my gardening choices...including being able to source locally grown bulbs (although, it pains me to note that the UK bulb market is not exactly immune to exploitative practices either).

I try to propagate my penstemons (and salvias) every year, often discarding aging mother plants...but, like TR, I have good drainage and tend to grow the hardier, narrow leaved varieties like Garnet.