Penstemon virens

The Penstemon virens is nicknamed "blue mist penstemon" by English speakers because the spring flowering of this delightful little galane resembles a blue mist. It is a botanical species from the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, rare in cultivation and a bit delicate, that only thrives in rocky, well-drained soil. Very hardy in these conditions, this plant tolerates drought well in not-too-hot climates. It will make an excellent ground cover in alpine rockeries or rocky beds.

The Penstemon virens is a perennial plant whose stump spreads through stolons. It is a wild galane native to the foothills of the Front Range, a mountain range in the western United States that is part of the Rocky Mountains. In nature, the plant grows and flowers in rock crevices, where its delicate yet vibrant flowering is a kind of miracle. Its natural habitat includes rocky outcrops, forest clearings, roadside edges, and other disturbed areas. This species is found at altitudes ranging from 1600 to 3000 metres. Like all penstemons, this galane belongs to the plantain or scrophulariaceae family, depending on the classification. The plant eventually forms a low, spreading carpet from which leafy stems emerge. It measures 30 to 40 cm in height when flowering with a spread of at least 40 cm. The majority of the leaves are located at ground level. They measure up to 10 cm in length. The stems bear slender, lanceolate leaves, a fairly bright green, hairless, shiny, and evergreen in winter. Flowering occurs between May and June; it can occur earlier in mild climates and will be halted by summer drought. The leafy stems elongate, bearing clusters of tiny flowers oriented all around the stem, emerging above each pair of leaves. Bell-shaped and campanulate, they are very bright blue, with purple throats and reverses. The capsules containing the seeds measure 5 to 7 mm in length.

The Penstemon virens are used in rockeries or gravel beds, exclusively in well-drained soil. It will mingle among the rocks of the rockery with rock roses, dwarf asters, aubrietas, or golden and silver baskets.