The Last Wildflower

Penstemon parryi

By May 10, most all the Penstemon flowers in my garden are spent and the seedpods ripening. This year, I trimmed off the flower stalks before the seedpods opened because the last thing I need next spring is another 100,000 stray Penstemon seedlings coming up everywhere. I spent countless hours pulling up all those seedlings and I'm not going to do that again next year! However, germination is irregular with this genus and species, so I may just get another bumper crop next spring regardless of my work to prevent it. Our heavy late winter rains this past year probably brought up seeds from three years ago.

The Penstemon in the photo was still blooming when I trimmed all the other plants in early May, so I just let it be. It has continued to flower with no signs of slowing anytime soon. It must be in just the right place with the right amount of water from nearby shrubs. Our temperatures are heading back up into the triple digits after a week's respite, and this species usually doesn't flower in intense heat. Once these flowers are gone, that's it for wildflowers this year. In the meantime, the hummingbirds are loving these!