This plant may not look particularly impressive, but I assure you that it has a story. This is the Western tall penstemon (P. hesperius), which was believed extinct until 2008. Before that, it hadn't been seen since around 1930. P. hesperius likes places that get flooded once in awhile and it gets much bigger than most penstemons -- up to 4 feet tall, if memory serves. (Most penstemons top out at 2 to 3 feet or lower.)

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#botany #penstemons #NativePlants #Oregon #Washington

It's time for our annual plea on behalf of #Penstemons. Please, please, please don't cut them down, leave them standing tall until the last spring frosts have passed and then and only then cut them back hard.

#Gardening #Penstemon #Gardening #winter #November #UK

It's getting to be that time of year when very few plants in a Portland, Oregon garden are in bloom, native or otherwise. One that's still going strong is this Penstemon kunthii, a plant originally from the mountains of central Mexico. Although the native penstemons stopped blooming many weeks ago, P. kunthii will probably be flowering into mid-December.

#GardeningOregon #penstemons
#NativePlants