california native flora

Penstemon Heterophyllus ‘Margarita BOP’ – Foothill Penstemon

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Margarita BOP Foothill Penstemon is a garden friendly California native perennial with beautiful light purple to blue flowers in spring and summer. This plant will do well in the ground or a container, thriving in full sun or part shade. The plant itself is only likely to grow to 1′ tall and twice as wide but the flower stalks can be up to 3′ tall with multiple blooms. A flowering specimen will quickly become a favorite of your neighborhood hummingbird population.

This my second attempt at growing a native Penstemon. Last year a Penstemon Spectabilis specimen I had died quickly due to overwatering and poor drainage. It’s quite easy to overwater these plants so care must be taken to irrigate only when absolutely necessary, even during the establishment period. P. Heterophyllus ‘Margarita BOP’ is a bit more garden tolerant than P. Spectabilis so hopefully that means a little more forgiving of inexperienced gardeners.