California Gardens - The Year Round Gardening Site

Penstemon Raven

Penstemon Raven puts on a great show of flowers in the Spring and then repeats with fewer flowers in Summer and Fall. Penstemon Raven has a dark dusky purple flower with a pale throat. Penstemon Raven will fade after two to three years but they do a tremendous job of quickly filling in a young garden or a newly opened space. I trim off the dead flowers and cut Penstemon Raven back heavily in the late winter and then less severely after each blooming cycle. If Penstemon Raven can air-layer on their own they extend their lifespan significantly. You can help this process by mulching heavily around the plants. The Penstemon gloxinoides group will take temperatures down to 10° F. I have sometimes had trouble with mites and have cut off the affected portions to fairly good success.Penstemon Margarita BOP is a potential larval food source for the Common Buckeye Butterfly and the Variable Checkerspot and could be a nice addition to your butterfly garden.

Penstemon Raven

Side View of a spray of purple flowers - Penstemon Raven. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.

Penstemon Raven

Dark dusky purple flowers with a pale throat - Penstemon Raven. High resolution photos are part of our garden image collection.

Other Penstemons featured on this site:
Keckiella antirrhinoides * Yellow Bush Penstemon
Keckiella breviflora * Yawning Penstemon
Keckiella cordifolia * Heartleaf Penstemon
Keckiella ternata * Blue Stemmed Penstemon
Penstemon Apple Blossom
Penstemon Burgundy Brew
Penstemon centranthifolius * Scarlet Bugler
Penstemon cobaea
Penstemon eatonii
Penstemon Evelyn
Penstemon Firebird
Penstemon grinnellii
Penstemon heterophyllus
Penstemon Hidcote Pink
Penstemon Holly's White
Penstemon Husker Red
Penstemon Margarita BOP
Penstemon Midnight
Penstemon palmeri
Penstemon parryi
Penstemon Red Rocks
Penstemon spectabilis
Penstemon triflorus