Thurber's Penstemon
Penstemon thurberi
A wiry, rounded native subshrub of Southwestern deserts and dry scrub, smothered in delicate, tubular pink-to-lavender flowers after summer monsoon rains. Highly attractive to native bees and hummingbirds, thriving in lean, gravelly, un-amended soils where summer heat is intense.
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 1–2 ft
- Spacing
- 1–2 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- May, June
- Bloom colors
- pink, blue
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, hummingbirds, butterflies, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~8 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- foundation, container
- Native states
- AZ, CA, NM, NV, TX
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)