When Jenny at Rock Rose in Austin posted about spotting Penstemon cobaea in a patch of roadside wildflowers just over two years ago I made a note to try to find some for my garden. It took a while, but I did find them at the Native Plant Society of Texas plant sale here in San Antonio a few weeks ago.
A plant with my name on it, sort of. It's not actually a foxglove but Wild Foxglove is its common name and as close as we can get in our hot Texas climate unless we purchase Foxglove already in bloom as an annual. So I'll take it. Look at those bearded flowers! Almost like a fox could wear them as gloves.
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Unlike the European Foxglove found at nurseries, this one is a Texas native and Showy Penstemon is one of its common names with good reason. The colors range from white to pink and these are quite brightly white with just a hint of pink.
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According to the Wildflower Center Database Penstemon cobaea are minimally deer resistant so I have it safely planted behind the deer fence. Native to a wide range of the U.S. all the way from Nebraska to South Carolina and across the Gulf Coast to Central Texas where they enjoy our rocky, limestone soil. Listed as long blooming but short-lived perennials I hope they seed out and keep producing new ones. They attract moths, hummingbirds, and butterflies as pollinators. Penstemon cobaea hosts the Dotted Checkerspot butterfly.
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This April 2014 Wildflower Wednesday begins my second year of wildflower posts and I'm not close to running out of native flowering plants to show you each month. To see more posts celebrating wildflowers in the garden check out Clay and Limestone. Gail is featuring a pretty combination of three flowering natives in her garden this month.
More about that Native Plant Society of Texas plant sale in a future post.
This looks like an excellent substitute for true foxglove. Although foxglove isn't native to the PNW, it has escaped cultivation here and grows everywhere at the side of the road like a wildflower. Despite that I still like it and have it growing in my garden. I would really miss it if I lived in Texas and couldn't grow it.
ReplyDeleteSo many plants have naturalized around the US. I did see Foxglove at several nurseries today but it is a novelty here.
DeleteSo cool to see that a reasonably popular cottage garden plant here is a native there :)
ReplyDeleteMany of the plants I see on your blog are native to my region so I do have fun comparing notes.
DeleteShirley, I meant to tell you that Linda and I saw this penstemon at Warbler Woods last Saturday! Jerry, from Sierra Club spotted it after most of us had past it and we all ran back to look at it. Only one plant but we were so happy to see it growing wild!
ReplyDeleteThat is so fun! I will have to make the next Warbler Woods walk.
DeleteI don't think I've seen Penstemon cobaea before but with all the deer roaming our subdivision I'm betting if anybody does have it they've got it in a protected back yard where it is a more private treasure. Thanks for sharing these images - I'm suddenly looking at our front yard and wondering how it would look partially fenced!
ReplyDeleteThe deer thing is a challenge. We have just a small part of the back yard off limits and it fills up fast.
DeleteI love this Penstemon. I think I like it better in white but then I can never resist white flowers.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so important that we all seek out native plants to grow in our gardens as long as they come from a responsible source. How lovely for you to come across one as delightful as this one.
I especially enjoy the Wildflower Wednesday meme to remind me of the importance of highlighting these plants in the garden.
DeleteWe recently bought a few native penstemons that I am looking forward to planting. I'll have to be on the lookout for this one!
ReplyDeletePenstemons would look wonderful in your natural style garden.
DeleteI grew many penstemon in Colorado and was sad to have to leave so many behind when I moved back to Austin, so I was glad to find some local varieties to adopt. I actually had penstemon cobaea in CO but haven't put it in the new garden yet. My penstemon tenuis is blooming right now, though.
ReplyDeletePenstemon do well in Austin so that should work well for you.
DeleteI love Penstemons of all kinds and that one's a beauty! I think I've seen it at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's fall or spring sale, but not anywhere else commercially. Thanks for posting about this Texas native!
ReplyDeleteIt was a special find at the native plant sale and I was thrilled to see it there.
DeleteOf course you both would have something with "fox" in it! I need to look this penstemon up, though I seem to recall it's higher water use for the desert. But the bright coloration and shape of the blooms...
ReplyDeletePenstemon seem to be a bit higher on the water use scale than I would typically go for but a few exceptions are what make gardening special.
DeleteIt really does look like a glove, with the five lobes, and I imagine I see 2 tiny green eyes peering out of the center. What a delightful flower, I hope it endures for you. Penstemons have been a plant that has not lasted long in my garden for some reason. I have foxgloves spring up as from nowhere every once in a while here, but not for a few years.
ReplyDeleteOh, the eyes! Yes, I see them. I'd love to have them spring up but I think they will need a bit of nurturing.
DeleteIt's a beauty, Shirley. I like its draping form, and I can see why pollinators of all sorts would like it!
ReplyDeletePlenty of room in there. They are a special flower.
DeletePenstemon cobaea! How I would love to grow that one! I do, however, grow Penstemon palmeri by the dozens here in Utah. She's one of the easiest to grow from seed a generally will flower the first year. The blooms are big enough for our local Bumblebees to crawl inside! They give a wonderful aroma for the neighborhood. I have given several to neighbors trying to get a Penstemon palmeri in every yard. Once people see how beautiful and sweet smelling they are, most people want one.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of Penstemon for April!
Best regards,
James
There are a number Penstemon native to our area and I will try to find more of them over time.
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