Penstemons

摘要

With sensational blooms and varieties that thrive in borders, baskets and containers, penstemons are the stars of the late-summer garden. My first meeting with a penstemon was electrifying. It was 'Stapleford Gem', the flowers as translucent as opals in a cool fusion of blues, pinks and pearly white, and so startlingly beautiful that I can still see them, like a frozen moment in time. This was back in the late 80s, at the start of a boom in popularity that has taken penstemons from near obscurity to their current status as shining stars of summer and autumn. Quite right too. Just look at the value you get. Fantastic foxglove-like flowers in a huge range of colours, wiry stems that need no staking, a graceful airy habit and, best of all, a flowering period so generous it's amazing. June and July? No problem. August/September? Still going strong October? Fine. November? A possibility. These are the long distance runners of the plant world with a unique style and incredible stamina. One of the veryfinest of this athletic family is 'Andenken an Friedrich Hahn' - a name so ponderous that you'll usually find it under the snappier title 'Garnet'. A rich wine red, it's perfect for creating a sultry atmosphere. In a traditional mixed border, team it upwith a crimson-purple English rose such as 'William Shakespeare' and if you can wangle a purple-leaved cotinus into the background, so much the better. In a tropical bed, let it simmer along with dark-leaved cannas and the dramatic black-red foliage of the bright scarlet-flowered Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'.