Penstemon azureus

Identification

Gallery

Description

This blue-purple (azure) flowering penstemon is a little perennial with bluish green leaves. Native to the foothills and middle elevations of the Sierras. It likes sun to part shade and good drainage. It is drought tolerant and one of the more garden tolerant ones. This plant is refined, neat, and tidy. Hummingbirds will work the flowers if you place it on or in a rock wall. People love the flower color. This penstemon is one that can be planted in or along a walk. Stepping directly on the plant is not well tolerated, but in most locations the plant serves as a small scale groundcover reaching only a few inches high. It barely recovered from a -2F but tolerates up to twelve feet of snow in Grants Grove where the plant grows under Douglas Fir making a delightful groundcover four to six feet across. One for you easterners to try.