Penstemons are notoriously difficult to grow in a garden. I had a couple (native to coastal California) and they were disease and pest (aphid) magnets. Absolutely stunning flowers though.
Well, I guess that just illustrates my point- here, they grow like weeds, and if you pay attention they are everywhere. Which makes them a good choice- here.
You can see something similar in our columbine patch, the native blue varieties have reseeded with great success, & the founders are huge and vivacious. But the non-native varieties are pale, small, droopy, stressed, and have not propagated.
P.S. if you're saying you live in coastal CA & tried to grow the local penstemon, did you plant them in the right conditions? They are a xeric plant family, the less you water them the happier they seem...
Yeah the penstemon (Panoche and Blue Springs[1]) were planted together with some woolly sunflower and a native lupine. I also have some epilobium and monkey flower going. None require much water.
Of that one group, the sunflower was the only one that survived. The penstemon were just the biggest magnets for aphids, fungus, and spider mites. One of them bolted, but both had some amazing flowers that the bees loved. In the end I think the soil was just nutrient deficient.
The sunflower has mostly taken over (but is loathe to actually flower), and I've planted a magentaish monkey flower and another lupine. This time around the lupine looks much better. The epilobium and the orange monkey flower continue to thrive.
I'd love to plant another penstemon, but I think next up might be a yellow lupine.
