Penstemon virgatus Blue Buckle

The Penstemon virgatus 'Blue Buckle' is an excellent variety of beardtongue, perennial, hardy, and reliable, not very demanding in terms of soil, which offers generous flowering in a superb blue, mauve colour. The plant, not very tall, bushy, dressed in narrow and shiny dark green foliage, produces bell-shaped flowers of a good size assembled in well-filled spikes throughout the summer. Full of charm in sunny borders or planted in a pot on the terrace, it is also a beautiful plant for a not-too-dry rockery and a delightful cut flower.

The Penstemon virgatus 'Blue Buckle' is a horticultural selection. Its parent is a botanical species native to the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico, and extreme southern Colorado, where it is found in more or less humid meadows and coniferous forests between 1800 and 3300 m altitude. According to classifications, it is a perennial plant of the family Scrophulariaceae or Plantaginaceae. Its above-ground vegetation persists more or less depending on the winter cold. The Penstemon virgatus 'Blue Buckle' forms 35-40 cm clumps in all directions, with upright stems adorned with slender, lanceolate, and shiny dark green leaves. The flowering extends from June to September, developing at the terminal part of the leafy stems. The flowers, in the form of widely open bell-shaped bells, are gathered in well-filled clusters. They display a beautiful palette of blue, mauve, and violet tones enhanced with white. The plant will adapt to good garden soil, adequately drained and not too dry in summer, even limestone.

The 'Blue Buckle' Penstemon is planted in a rockery or at the edge of a bed. This lovely plant can be associated with many garden flowers:  catmints, dwarf asters, hardy geraniums, or mixed with shrubs like ground cover roses or Caryopteris, for example. It goes well with light annuals like love-in-a-mist and cosmos. Its flowers contrast pleasantly with dark foliage such as that of Weigela 'Minor Black' or Physocarpus 'Summer Wine'. It also performs very well in a pot, with proper drainage and regular water and fertiliser supply. Penstemons also make excellent cut flowers.