Desert Penstemon
Penstemon pseudospectabilis
Tall, branching wands of rose-pink trumpets rise from clasping blue-gray leaves in spring, drawing hummingbirds across the desert. A showy, heat-loving penstemon for gravelly ground.
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–4 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- March, April, May, June
- Bloom colors
- pink
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, hummingbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~8 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- foundation
- Native states
- AZ, CA, NM, UT
Related native plants
More Penstemon species
- Large Beardtongue (Penstemon grandiflorus)
- Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
- Cobaea Beardtongue (Penstemon cobaea)
- Scarlet Bugler (Penstemon centranthifolius)
- Palmer's Penstemon (Penstemon palmeri)
- Beardlip Penstemon (Penstemon barbatus)