Description
- About this cultivar: Penstemon 'Andenken en Friedrich Hahn', also known as 'Garnet', commemorates an 18th century German astronomer. It forms pinkish red, tubular flowers with attractive white striping on the inside. One of the oldest hybrid Penstemons, bred in 1918, it is still one of the best penstemon to grow. Its parent, P.'Southgate Gem,' was a very popular plant back in the early 1900s. From the Swiss breeder Hermann Hartmann.
- About this genus: Penstemon (pent-ste-mon) gets its name from the Greek pent, meaning five, and stemon, meaning stamen; guess why!?? Commonly know as the beardtongues, it is a large genus of North American and East Asian flowering plants in the plaintain family (Plantaginaceae). Mostly deciduous or semi-evergreen perennials, the remainder being shrubs or subshrubs, heights can range from 10 cm to as much as 3 metres!
- John Mitchell published the first scientific description in 1748. Despite being a North American native, Europe has always been far more active in Penstemon cultivation. Seeds began to be offered for sale in Europe as early as 1813, with John Fraser offering four species in London, followed by Flanagan & Nutting offering nine species in their 1835 catalog. Subsequently many hybrids were developed in Europe; Lemoine had developed nearly 470 by the time of his death in 1911!
- When I lived in the USA I was surprised to learn that, over there, Penstemon are often used in xeriscape landscaping as many are native to desert or alpine regions! Our Penstemon grow happily in our rainy, wet, clay soil garden at Ballyrobert; full sun or part shade. Weather permitting, many of ours even flower from June to November. In fact the Penstemon we have grow so well I thought they where native to wet clay environments!
- Position: Full sun, partial shade Soil: Almost any soil, grows well in Ballyrobert Flowers: July, August, September, October Other features: Bees and Butterflies Hardiness: Fully hardy, grows well in Ballyrobert Habit: Clump forming Foliage: Semi evergreen Height: 60 - 90 cm (2 - 3 ft) Spread: 30 - 60 cm (1 - 2 ft) Time to full growth: 2 to 5 years Plant type: Herbaceous Perennial Colour: Green, red Image Credit: Wikipedia Creative Commons
• Plants are sold in half litre sized pots (9cm pots that are nearly pint sized, about 520ml in capacity). • All the cultivars we sell have been grown and tested in our own garden (which is an RHS partner garden open to the public). • When your plants arrive they can usually be planted straight out after soaking in water for 3 or 4 minutes. A good rule of thumb; make the soil level of the pot level with the rest of your border when planting out. Another rule of thumb; nearly all our plants will grow in indirect sunlight; we are in the British Isles after all. Another rule of thumb (!); Plants usually do better in the ground, which is unsurprising because that where they can from! Containers are ok if plants are kept fed and watered during their growing months, and in a warmer place during the winter. Try not to over water! • During the year plants can be in various states of growth. The same plant delivered in early spring could be much bigger or smaller if delivered in late spring. Please be aware of this when ordering or receiving them. • Some plants may have their flowers and foliage cut back when we send them, and look a bit awful! Don't worry, it is for their own good; some plants like to travel light. Similarly bulbs, rhizomes, and some plants may be dormant or dying back for the year when you order them, they may even look dead - that is the nature of hardy perennials so don't worry. Plant them out and wait, perhaps until next year, patience is a virtue in the hardy perennial game. Eventually your hardy perennials should grow back beautiful year after year. Again, this is the nature of hardy perennials - they die back and grow back, die back and grow back, year after year after year. Some years are better than others. You get the picture! • Postage and packaging is a flat fee of £3.99 per order • If you are for some reason upset in any way please contact us - we're human.
