LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — When spring begins to wane, the penstemon party kicks into high-gear with saturated colors ranging from lilac to blue to indigo to scarlet red waving on tall stalks inviting everyone to come and join in the party — you, me, hummingbirds, bees — everyone is invited to the penstemon party!

Commonly called “beardtongues” for the long and hairy tongue-like stamen located in the middle of lip-shaped flowers, there are 111 species native to California, with 14 species of penstemon in Lake County alone according to CalFlora.

These nectar-rich flowers are a favorite of bees, butterflies, moths, flies, and hummingbirds and make great additions to your garden and yard as they have a long blooming season.

Known as a “pioneer plant,” penstemon are among the first wildflowers to repopulate land that has been disturbed such as clearing to create gardens, roadside grading, erosion-exposed soils after flooding, and after wildfires which help make it ideal for planting in your own gardens here in Lake County.

Once the locally-adapted and drought tolerant native varieties have been established in your gardens/yard, penstemon will happily come back year after year if you allow the flowers to go to seed after they are done blooming.

Nurseries where you can purchase penstemons:
Scarlet Bugler Penstemon: https://calscape.org/nurseries.php?id=2748&showmap=1 
Foothill Penstemon: https://calscape.org/nurseries.php?id=871&showmap=1 
Mountain Pride Penstemon: https://calscape.org/nurseries.php?id=2787&showmap=1 
Purdy’s Foothill Penstemon: https://calscape.org/nurseries.php?id=2775&showmap=1 

Terre Logsdon is an environmentalist, certified master composter, and advocate for agroecology solutions to farming. An avid fan and protector of California wildflowers, plants, natural resources, and the environment, she seeks collaborative solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. Kim Riley is retired, an avid hiker at Highland Springs, and has lived in Lake County since 1985. After 15 years of trail recovery and maintenance on the Highland Springs trails, she is now focused on native plants, including a native plant and pollinator garden on her property as well as promoting and preserving the beauty of the Highland Springs Recreation Area. Karen Sullivan has operated two nurseries to propagate and cultivate native plants and wildflowers, has lived in Kelseyville for the past 30 years, rides horses far and wide to see as many flowers as possible, and offers native plants and wildflowers for sale to the public. You can check her nursery stock here. They are collaborating on a book, Highland Springs Recreation Area: A Field Guide, which will be published in the future. In the meanwhile, please visit https://www.facebook.com/HighlandSpringsNaturalists and https://www.facebook.com/HighlandSpringsRecreationArea.