|This short-lived perennial, often treated as an annual in colder climates, is grown primarily for it's pretty, tubular, two-lipped flowers (all colors but blue and yellow). The leaves are narrow and lance shaped (up to 2 inches long).
Penstemons like dry but rich soil. They are summer bloomers, attract hummingbirds, and will keep your garden exciting after the spring colors have faded away.
Penstemon fruticosus is a semi-upright, spreading, evergreen subshrub. From late spring to early summer bears dense racemes of tubular-funnel-shaped, purplish-blue flowers. Grows to 16 inches tall and wide.