PENTSTEMON

Hardy perennial



Penstemons when grown as half-hardy annuals are a valuable addition to

beds and borders, where they produce a brilliant effect in summer. In

borders it is not advisable to plant singly, but they should be employed

in groups of not less than one dozen. It is also important to sow a

strain consisting principally of scarlet and pink shades with white

markings, as well as white flowers; under fair conditions there will be

a profusion of richly coloured blooms on stately spikes about two feet

high. Sow in heat during February or March and plant out in genial

weather. It is not necessary to keep them after flowering has finished,

although seedling Pentstemons on comparatively dry soil in favourable

districts scarcely feel the winter. Seed may also be sown in June, in

the manner usual with hardy perennials, and the plants will bloom in

advance of those which are spring-sown.