I made the acquaintance of Penstemon neomexicanus Wooton & Standl. this morning. The BioPark held its spring plant sale to empty out the greenhouses at the Zoo. I got there promptly at opening, but already there were many dozens of people picking over the selection.
Fortunately, there was plenty of material. I came away with a couple amazing Begonia cv., four pots of Verbena, and two large specimens of the beardtongue. Caro immediately found spots for them all in our garden or in the sunroom.
P. neomexicanus grows on Poppy Hill in the Botanic Garden's Heritage Farm. My specimens come from wild-collected material that our IUCN specialists found near Ruidoso. There's some question about the precise identification. It may just be that the species is hybridizing with introduced Penstemon strictus or there's more variability than we're aware of in these populations.
Either way, the plants are lovely and perennial. I plan on enjoying them for years.
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