Penstemon eatonii

Is anyone growing penstemon eatonii? Can you spare some seeds? Thanks.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/413261/

Hi Laurie,
I am not growing this one, but now I want to! I do have lots of Penstemon, but they don't do as well in our "coldwet" type weather. If I hear of any, I will dmail you - I know some Penstemon Hounds...

Katye, your penstemons don't like it here??? Really. Mine love the cool weather and do just fine in the hot weather too. I have a red one that just keeps growing and blooming its head off. They do melt back a bit from the freezing weather but.............they come back fine here.
Who are the Penstemon hounds??? I would love to trade for some more of them.
Yes, that penstemon Laurie1 posted is a very lovely one.
Carol

Daisy - I think you are in a much warmer & drier area than I am in - Penstemons generally don't like the constant wet. I have provided great drainage for all of mine, but they sulk in the spring - too much rain. I like them very much - when they have adapted, they perform so well.
The P. Hounds are friends of mine who live in various places (USA); if any of them have seed for trade, I will let you know.

Great, would love some seeds to grow. Please do let me know!
Can you grow them in pots then to control the water?
I do put them in raised beds but one is in a place where it is pretty much clay with some good soil and it has gone nuts. I didn't realize that they didn't like the wet. Good to know. Thanks.
Carol

Carol - I amended the clay with grit & compost & gravel. BIG (as in wide) hole. They are fine. Pots are ok, but mine are too big for pots. I have lost those planted in pots in previous years - too cold here in the winter, and the pots were too large to move close to the house. Mine are planted in the "banana belt" areas of my property. However, you may have great success with them in pots as you are in a warmer zone, so go for it! At least that way you would have time to prepare places in your yard for them. But I will warn you that mine always get bigger than I think - so plan accordingly!

Carol - forgot to tell you that High Country Gardens has a very nice selection of Penstemon plants.
Uncertain of the correct URL, but if you google the name, you will find it. Worth looking at all the varieties they have! Yeah, makes me want more... :0)

Great. Thanks for the place to get some penstemons then. I guess your area is a bit colder than here. Tho we sure have been colder this year than ever but my plants seem to be doing fine.

Well, I miss a few days (the glass roof blew off our greenhouse, so I have been out hoovering the lawn - honestly, that was me looking riduculous with the vacuum cleaner hoovering away) and I the come back to a very interesting dialogue.

Katye - like you I have had some failed Penstemons - but I am not sure that it is the wet weather. Penstemons are prone to virus - they can be carrier's of Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus spread by thrips (particularly Western Flower Thrips) - if the source of your plants had this virus (which isn't always readily detectable) they will literally just wilt away. This may have been what happened with yours. The fact that some of your plants have succeeded so well, would seem to indicate that your environment is okay. I would keep going with trying out various plants and keep growing them. I find, in my wet heavy clay and wet weather, most of the penstemons do well. (We are sort of the equivalent of 8b zone, I think).

Having said that - Penstemons come in all zones - I know the Eatonii does like warmer conditions and full sun (if you notice the photo is from Tennessee!) where a lot of P. will do marvellously in partial shade and cooler zones. So it is a matter of trying them out and as Dan Hinckley says "pushing the zone". I have an area that gets very good sun, doesn't dry out, but doesn't get water logged either so I am crossing my fingers that the Eatonii might just settle in there.

Now where will we find seed.

www.alpinegardensociety.net/servlet/indexservlet?command=listentries&category=Penstemon I just found this list of penstemon. How in the world are we ever going to manage to look up everyone of these? And then covet everyone? And then track down all of the seed, find space in the garden, and......... well.

And then there is this www.hardyplants.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SP&Category_Code=Penstemon

And this www.seedstrust.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?

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oh my - that's some list! well, I suppose we can divy it up - how many are going to engage in helping, hmmm?
I thought maybe I could take the first 1/3 of the alphabet, but I kept scrolling & scrolling & then on to the second list: 70 - OK, well, that's divisible by 2, 5, 7, 10...Looks like it might take a few days?
Need to get Kenton in on this over in the Rocky Mountain Forum - he'll absolutely know what's good in his area. But no excess rain issues in Colorado!
Suppose I need to tell the boss I need a few days off for research purposes. Perhaps it will sn*w again, (shhh, that's not a word that will bring much good humour these days!) and I would have ample time.
Several cups of tea ought to be factored into this as well...
OK - I will dmail Kenton.
No wilt here for my Penstemons. I had varieties that were most likely not too happy out of a high desert climate. I have been more selective with the rest of my P. purchases. I had discussed this with a fanatic who informed me that my success rate would be higher if I amended with gravel / grit. So far it has worked.
Also, general advice was to start from seed so that the plants adapt better to the climate they are grown in. Makes sense...

Katye, I should send you one of my red penstemon. I have a few that I propagated. I am sure it will do just fine there. It start as a one stemmer and it is huge now. Like 2-4' wide and 2' high in just 2 years.
Yep, guess we do need some more snow to get our internet stuff done, LOL But I will past on the snow and ice. No more for me this year please. Had my fill of the wet stuff and the cold temps. for sure.
I started to look too and wow, it is overwhelming.
Carol

I think my first port of call will be to try and get a back copy of volume 62 of the Alpine Growers Journal. That seems to be the one that is referenced for a large portion of plants.

If they have still have copies, would either of you like a copy?

No need - I am going to point to a place in the list & just keep right on going!
Carol - I'm with you - no more, please no more! It was sunny & 55° today - absolutely my kind of January, and it could stay this way until June. At that point, I want a bit more warmth. I like to get out on my lunch hour & go for a nice walk. Hard to embrace when there is ice on the ground. I don't mind using an umbrella when it rains, but I much prefer getting a full dose of vitamin D via the sun. Besides, blue sky is pretty!
Looks like I'll be getting lots of seeds started the next couple weeks - it is time to move forward. I feel sorry for all the folks that have recently moved here from California ( or any warmer climate): I hear that folks are wanting to plant out Primroses & violas - wonder how soon the box store nursuries will be stocking them?
Ordering seeds tonight - hope I can exercise some measure of control....

What seeds are you ordering and from where?