Associating Penstemons

In a mixed border

In the mixed border or an English garden, all flower colours are allowed, as long as they harmonise well with each other. Here, we suggest planting a beautiful, uncommon Penstemon, interesting for its bicoloured corolla and romantic appearance, but in reality, many are suitable for an opulent English-style border! The idea is to plant in groups of at least 5 plants to achieve a striking visual impact.

You might choose the lovely Penstemon ‘Strawberries and Cream’ or the classic ‘Souvenir d’Adrien Régnier’, surrounded by some campanulas, a violet sage like Salvia jamensis ‘Raspberry Royal’, and a white or pink hardy geranium. Complete the scene with delicate flowering apricot potentillas like ‘Double Punch Peach’ for the foreground, and lavateras more towards the centre or back of the border, not forgetting a small, sturdier shrub like a compact Vitex agnus, particularly resistant to summer droughts.

If you wish to incorporate the Penstemon into a vibrant, warm-coloured border, choose the most vibrant varieties like ‘Garnet’, raspberry red, ‘Le Phare’ cherry red, or the violet ‘Raven’.

Penstemon ‘Strawberry and Cream’, Potentilla fruticosa ‘Double Punch Peach’, Lavatera ‘Barnsley’, Salvia jamensis ‘Raspberry Royal’, Vitex agnus and Geranium richardsonii

In rockeries or dry gardens

Versatile, the galane thrives in poor soils and drought without a fuss. It thus makes the perfect candidate to support the sometimes fleeting flowerings of rock gardens or dry gardens, provided you water it sufficiently to ensure a slightly cooler soil than the others.

A purple variety like Penstemon strictus will pair beautifully with the yellow of Phlomis in spring, and then with lavenders in early summer. Complete these radiant flowerings with some low tufts of fescue or Euphorbia polychroma with its tangy spring blooms, and creeping phlox (Phlox divaricata ‘Chattahoochee’). If you live in a mild climate region, punctuate the arrangement with a beautiful agave and Australian rosemary (Westringia fructicosa); otherwise, invite a Juniperus horizontalis ‘Prince Of Wales’, compact yet ensuring a lovely presence in the border.

Penstemon strictus, Euphorbia polychroma, Lavandula x intermedia ‘Phenomenal’, Phlomis russeliana, Agave havardiana, Westringia fructicosa, and Phlox divaricatica ‘Chattahoochee’

In a naturalistic garden

Attracting butterflies, bees… and hummingbirds, Penstemons thrive in naturalistic gardens that combine grasses, wild plants, and a few colourful perennials. For this setup, let’s focus on a light-looking Penstemon, either a Penstemon barbatus or a Penstemon strictus. The Penstemon barbatus ‘Coccineus’ is also perfect with its larger dimensions and cherry-red flowers. These penstemons will complement meadow-type plants such as heleniums and achilleas. Blooming for a long time, it will also accompany lychnis with greyish foliage, nigellas, some Oriental poppies, foxgloves, and later in the season, sanguisorba with purple spikes. By adding some grasses like Andropogons, flexible and upright, you create a scene that appears almost spontaneous, very bucolic.

Penstemon strictus, Heleniums and achilleas, Andropogon virginicus, Oriental poppies, nigella, lychnis, Miscanthus and Sanguisorba

In a monochrome garden

Available in white or blue, Penstemon will provide months of flowering until October, which is a boon especially for white gardens, often less floral in autumn, but also for blue gardens. The monochrome pink garden can obviously play with all the subtle nuances of Penstemons (notably with the Penstemon digitalis ‘Dark Towers’).

For a white version, one can select a very beautiful cultivar, the Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ with white flowers slightly touched with pink, contrasting beautifully with the purple stems, and pair it with a Deutzia setchuenensis, with pure white, star-shaped flowers, a few feet away from white Gaura keeping it company until the frosts, Hydrangea arborescens with its evolving flowering from greenish white to cream white, and Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ echoing the purple of the penstemon.

P ‘Husker Red’, Deutzia setchuenensis, white Gaura, Hydrangea arborescens and Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’

In an all-blue setting, why not have Penstemon alongside white Platycodons, Cardunculus scolymus (an artichoke whose heads will be left to don a rather original flower), a blue sage like the graceful Salvia farinacea, and a later flowering with a Caryopteris ‘Hint of Gold’ and its very bright golden foliage?

Penstemon and white Platycodons, Cardunculus scolymus, Salvia farinacea, and Caryopteris ‘Hint of Gold’

In a pot on the balcony

One can also invite the galane onto a terrace or a small balcony facing west or south. For this purpose, hybrid Penstemons are ideal, offering stunning shades, often bicoloured on the petals, and generally larger flowers. The Penstemon ‘Hewell Pink Bedder’ is one of the most beautiful, with soft tones of light pink and white, featuring a delicately striated throat. It blends gracefully into a romantic terrace, where you might have installed an evergreen foliage like Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Silver Ball’ with its small olive-green leaves, along with some summer perennials like Phlox, a Nepeta, and the hardy geranium, not forgetting a small rose ‘Fortuna’ in pink with salmon reflections, which fits perfectly in a pot.

For a more vibrant terrace, adopt the Penstemon ‘Le Phare’, a bright red with a white throat: it will pair wonderfully with long-flowering, tall, and colourful Alstroemerias like the ‘Diane’ variety from the Majestic series, orange snapdragons, the blue-tinged foliage of an Helictrothrycon sempervirens, which is very light, and that of a fleshy autumn sedum.

Penstemon ‘Hewell Pink Bedder’, Phlox paniculata ‘Younique Trendy’, Nepeta, Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Ball’ and rose ‘Fortuna’