Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon
Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon is grown for its beautiful yellow flowers. It's an English selection of the flowering subshrub native to New Mexico and Arizona.
It grows as a small mound of needle-like leaves. In June, many small yellow flowers with a slender funnel-shape bloom for several weeks. The leaves stay more green than Red Pineleaf Penstemon, which makes it a more attractive plant when it's not in bloom.
Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon
Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon is grown for its beautiful yellow flowers. It's an English selection of the flowering subshrub native to New Mexico and Arizona.
It grows as a small mound of needle-like leaves. In June, many small yellow flowers with a slender funnel-shape bloom for several weeks. The leaves stay more green than Red Pineleaf Penstemon, which makes it a more attractive plant when it's not in bloom.
Plant details
Botanic Name
Penstemon pinifolius 'Mersea Yellow'
Pronunciation
PEN-stem-on pin-ee-FOH-lee-us
Mature Height
6 to 10 in.
Mature Spread
12 to 15 in.
Water usage
One Droplet: Water twice per month or less, once established.
Two Droplets: Water about once per week, once established.
Three Droplets: Water about twice per week, once established.
Flower Color
yellow
Bloom time
June
Colorado Native
No
Natural Habitat
species is native to New Mexico and Arizona
Light Requirements
sun
Cold Hardiness
USDA zones 4-9
Elevation Limit
hardy to 8,000 ft.
Performance
Yellow Pineleaf Penstemon has grown at the Xeriscape Demonstration Garden for many years. It performs well in sunny, dry locations. Plants that have become overly woody benefit from hard pruning every few years.
Maintenance
Cut down, brown stems to green growth in early spring before new growth starts. Cut back the stems of the spent flowers after bloom to a set of attractive leaves, if desired.
See in a landscape
This yard was previously all bluegrass and required too much water and maintenance for not a lot of return. While fences and patios can be the more expensive part of a landscape, this home turned unused grass into a fenced-in, gravel patio space that adds function and design. The new grass in this yard is sheep fescue, a well-adapted grass to Colorado, that uses about one-third to one-half less water than Kentucky bluegrass. The grass is mowed only twice a year to give a native look to the design and the ornamental grasses and perennials were chosen for water savings, low maintenance and year-round interest.