I grow and adore P. glaber. It is a lovely thing and depending on the weather is very blue or more pinkish hues showing.

Very lovely - similar colouring to the hybrid Stapleford Gem (which I have). Katob posted a pic of perovskia and ipomopsis...which definitely inspired me to try the blue penstemons with gilia. Did you grow yours from seed? This is pretty much the only way to get hold of the species, here in the UK.

Hmm it was decades ago and I grow a lot from seed but I believe I started with a plant. I will definitely gather seed from it this year. It has never self seeded so I will gather and do a spring planting of it. There are so many P's that I can't grow in my zone so I cherish P. g.

P. d. 'Husker Red' grows exuberantly here though I wish I could grow others.

I'm unaware of the species of Penstemon, but, I am a Penstemon fan. That is a gorgeous stand of that blue P. glaber, Peren.all. Everytime you post photos of your property I want to come visit..lol.

In my garden I planted Penstemon 'Dark Towers' I've allowed it to reseed. The original hybrid has the dark foliage and the seedlings seem to revert to something else. Green foliage for the most part, larger more robust plant, with a different color flower, instead of a white?, it is a pale pink. I enjoy having both. It's reseeded so exuberantly that next spring I'm going to have to rip out a lot of it.

Thank you prairiemoon. You have a standing invitation anytime!

I have ordered p.mensarum, p.serrulatus, p.strictus, p.smallii from the HPS, to add to the modest few I already have in various stages of stratification.

Peren.all, so obviously P. glaber is a true long lived perennial? I've grown 'Rondo Mix', glorious and heavy flowering in second year, really petering or totally dead the next.

I am moving my Penstemon in the spring and I was thinking of pairing them up with something different. I wonder if anyone has a good partner with their Penstemon?

FrozeBudd absolutely. I looked back and the first pic I have of it is from 2007.

Years ago I had tried I think 'Prairie Fire' and it did not return. They were touting it as zone 4, and still are but further research showed it was actually zone 7. That could have just been a fail on my part too. Pity 'Rondo Mix' is not fully perennial because it is quite lovely.

prairiemoon are you moving some of your 'Dark Towers' or the green seedlings? I have only 'Husker Red' but find they pair well with so many things from Geraniums to Ornamental grasses (especially blue OG). It depends too whether you want a blooming companion or to extend the bloom time in an area with earlier or late bloomers.

Peren.all - Both, they bloom at about the same time. I can't add any more grasses. I have Geraniums [Cranesbill?] but they are edgers really and I wanted something either a little taller or shorter. I was wondering what would bloom at the same time. Bluestone has a good search feature that allows you to search by bloom time, I might try that. Also, my 2nd consideration is how they look in the late summer fall with their aging seed tops and the foliage getting red. I'm already planning on putting them near the Pennisetums that I have 'Hamelin' and 'Desert Plains'. The 'Desert Plains has nice fall color with some orange in there. Not as large as I like, but the larger Pennisetum I had, I ripped out last fall. It was a seedling nightmare. Worse than I've had with any other plant. I don't remember the variety.

I have a corner I'm developing with Lilies/Perovskia/Gaura and I just saw a photo of a combination of Perovskia with Verbena bonariensis that I loved. I'm thinking of adding that to the mix and not sure if I will have room to add Penstemon. Here is the Perovskia/Verbena combo - I had one Verbena volunteer that reseeded into one of my vacant vegetable beds this summer and it turned into a huge circle and was the last thing blooming this fall. So I can bring that into my front bed with those plants.

I am growing them with the hope of adding vertical aspects (along with verbascum) to the more rounded forms of lavender, cistus, santolina, pulsatilla, pussy toes, umbellifers, shrubby salvias and hyssop (and grasses). And have perovskia and gaura seeds on order too, PM. I am hoping the penstemons will take the place of larkspur and campanulas. To be honest, I am winging it a bit really, as I am hopeless at making long-term plans. Short lived perennials, biennials and annuals are generally good for me and my soil.

The named garden hybrids like Garnet have been quite enduring and reliable. Some can be a bit graceless and dumpy and I do not care for some of the large flowered, white-throated varieties (such as 'Amelia Jane' (destined for the compost bin).

Thanks rouge!

prairiemoon I can see why you like that combo. I think if you do have room the Penstemon would be lovely with it.

Good to know P. glaber is reliably perennial, unless things self seed, I might not get around to replacing the "annuals"!

I've acquired seed of verbena bonariensis 'Vanity', stated to grow to 2.5 ft, should make a nice mingler easier to tuck here and there compared to tall counterparts.