A Tale of Two Penstemons

 

Long ago, perhaps sometime around 2008, I bought a beardtongue perennial at Home Depot. It was grown by a fairly local nursery and was labeled as Blue Ridge beardtongue (Penstemon smallii). I planted it in my yard, it grew well and made babies which I then shared with others and donated to plant sales. About the same time as I was passing around those babies, my friend Sheri was growing Gulf beardtongue or Brazos penstemon (Penstemon tenuis). As we donated them to the plant sale from our two populations, we joked about how similar they were. You can see where this is going, right?

After we finally figured out that my plant had been mislabeled, I pined wistfully for what I thought I had. It didn’t seem likely that I’d run across this species unless I went north. Enter another friend’s contribution to this story: Richard bought a plant of the real thing (Penstemon smallii) and shared seeds with Sheri and me. Plants from those seeds (all credit to Sheri for growing them) are now finally blooming in my garden!

Penstemon smallii (from seed)

Looking at the key for Penstemon, of the two species, Blue Ridge beardtongue has slightly larger flowers which can be densely bearded, and colors are more purple than pink. The largest leaves can also be about 1/3 larger. That is, generally it is a more robust plant. I can see all those characteristics in the plant I have now.

Plants above: Seed-grown Penstemon smallii on left, purchased Penstemon tenuis on right.

I try to learn from my plant mistakes and I try to help others learn what I learned. I should have done some research much sooner.