Hardiness zones:
Sunset 12 and 13
USDA 9 - 11 (arid regions only)

Landscape Use: Winter color, accent, landscape border, rock gardens, desert gardens

Form & Character: Rosetting and upright, stiff and rigid, small but visually demanding

Growth Habit: Herbaceous perennial, clumping with upright flower spikes, 3 to 4' tall

Foliage/texture: Grayish to glaucous green, glabrous, lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong leaves to 5" long, clasping, with or without petiole; medium texture.

Flowers & fruits: Flowers in spikes, corolla to 3/4" long, rose-magenta, abruptly inflated, staminode included, yellow bearded, fruit small oblong-rounded.

Seasonal color: Parry's penstemon bears striking spikes of rose-magenta flowers during February and March in Phoenix.

Temperature: Actively grows only during cooler time of year in lower desert climates.

Light: Full sun

Soil: Well drained soils or else cultivate on the dry side.

Watering: Infrequent

Pruning: Remove spent flower spikes unless harvesting seed.

Propagation: Seed

Disease and pests: Root rot only if soil poorly drained.

Additional comments: Parry's penstemon is a wonderfully spectacular accent plant for winter and spring desert gardens. It's foliage is more glaucous than that of P. eatoni. It will reseed sometimes in landscape settings which is to your advantage. There are over 250 species in the genus Penstemon.