Penstemon Raven puts on a great show of
rich dark purple flowers in the Spring and then repeats with fewer
flowers in Summer and Fall. The plants fade after 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 Raven back heavily in the late winter and
then less severely after each blooming cycle. 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
Raven are
available.
