Common Names: Beard Tongue, Balloon Flower, Cows Tobacco. Penstemon: Garden; Phlox; Heller's; Firecracker; Border; Sand; Box; Parachute; White-margined; Bush; Foothill.

Quantity: 500 Bulk Seeds/bag
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Life Cycle: Half hardy perennial, hardy perennial.
Height: 4 to 120 inches (10 to 300 cm).
Native: North America. East Asia.
Growing Region: Perennial: zones 3 to 10.
Flowers: Summer.
Flower Details: Red, white, purple, lilac, yellow, blue, pink. Tubular. Two lips. Distinctive staminode.
Foliage: Herbaceous or shrub. Erect. Lanceolate to oblong.
Sow Outside: Surface. Spring and/or autumn. Spacing 12 to 48 inches (30 to 120 cm).
Sow Inside: Germination time: two to five weeks in the light. Temperature 60°F (16°C). Two months before expected last frost. Transplant outdoors following the last.
Requirements: Full sunlight or light shade. Good drainage. Soil pH 5.5 to 7. Rich soil. Regular watering during prolonged dry periods. Deadhead. Perennials should be cut back to the ground in autumn. Autumn mulch for perennials once cut back. Winter mulch. Propagate: cuttings can be took from stems in either autumn or in the spring.

How to grow Beard Tongue

The seeds of Beard Tongue can be sown outdoors in either spring or autumn; the seeds should be sown on the soil surface. Beard Tongue likes to grow in sunny areas (though requires partially shade in hot areas); ideally the soil should be fertile and slightly acidic to neutral (pH 5.5 to 7), the ground that the plant grows in should also have good drainage.

If starting off indoors ten do so about 9 or 10 weeks before the last frost of spring is expected. The Beard tongue seeds should be germinated in the light at 12 to 18 degrees centigrade; it should take about 3 to 6 weeks. Once ready transfer the young Penstemon plants outside at about 30cm (small species) to 75cm (larger varieties) apart.