GROWING PENSTEMONS

 

Never set your plants under trees or in a shady border as

they prefer as much sunlight as possible

 

To ensure a continual display of flowers for several months

keep dead heading at least once a week breaking off the stem

just below the bottom flower head

 

Penstemons are best enjoyed flowering in the garden as they

only have a short life of a few days when cut even if you add a

preservative in the water

 

The plants do not like to be overcrowded in borders and you

will find that they will not survive if there is no breathing space

around them

 

Apart from dead heading no foliage must be removed from

the plant during the winter months as this protects the plant.

Being a too tidy gardener and cutting back before March is a recipe for

disaster.

 

Once the worst of the winter frosts have passed and the new

shoots are coming out of the ground cut off all the old stems at ground

level to allow the new shoots to grow

 

Penstemons do not like to be overfed and a good feeding in

the spring with a well balanced fertiliser such as Growmore

will be sufficient to last the whole year.

 

The plants do not like to be overwatered although in periods

of drought they will benefit from a can of water every few days.

 

One big advantage with the plants is that they rarely suffer

from disease and there should be no problems with green,

black or white fly.    Chrysanthemum eelworm is the only real

pest on penstemons and if this does occur burn the plant.

 

Penstemons are never happy set in peat based composts on sale and

If you are growing them in pots or raising a few cuttings use a soil

based compost.