Penstemon firebird puts on a great show of red flowers. The plants are at
their best for two to three years but they do a tremendous job of quickly
filling in a young garden or a newly opened space. I trim off the
dead flowers and cut Penstemon Firebird back heavily in the late winter. If
the plants air-layer on their own they can extend their lifespan
significantly. The Penstemon gloxinoides group
will take temperatures down to 10 degrees. I have sometimes had
trouble with mites and have cut off the affected portions to fairly good success.
High
resolution images of Penstemon firebird are
available.
