This plant has always done well for me, as have all of the varieties and hybrids of P. digitalis. My current favorite is P. 'Dark Towers', which is similar to 'Mystica', except for having darker foliage in full sun. For anyone wanting to grow Penstemon but having trouble because of heavy soil, P. digitalis is the way to go. The only real problem with them is they are prone to mildew if they don't have good enough air circulation.

The Plant Geek
www.confessionsofaplantgeek.blogspot.com

I planted 'Dark Towers' last year, and am loving the dark foliage so far this spring. I'm looking forward to the blooms soon. Any comparisons between these two newer varieties and the older 'Husker Red'? Here's what seems to be promoted:

'Husker Red' - seed variety; maroon-red foliage, white flowers with a pink tinge
'Mystica' - seed variety; more consistent maroon-red foliage colouration than 'Husker Red'; white flowers with pink tinge
'Dark Towers' - vegetative variety; foliage stays maroon-red foliage longer; lavender-pink flowers

I have both all 3. "Mystica" and "Dark Towers" look identical to me. I couldn't tell them apart without the plant tags.

Their blooms are like the photo I posted above. "Husker Red" has whiter blooms and the foliage isn't as dark.

I have noticed that these are so easy to root from simple cuttings. I've even rooted stalks that had blooms on them already. These are such nice filler plants for the back of the garden.

Information on Dark Towers please. Do they have a longer bloom period than Husker Red? My Husker Red is gorgeous no doubt, but they bloom for three weeks and finito. I bought some Dark Towers last year, didn't bloom and then we had extremely low temps and no snow cover in November. Devastated my perennial beds.

For me the foliage of 'Dark Towers' is darker than 'Mystica', the plant as a whole is more vigorous as well. No difference in bloom period. 3-4 weeks is normal, and to me a great plenty length of bloom as it transitions to the plentiful group of July-bloomers.

The Plant Geek
www.confessionsofaplantgeek.blogspot.com

I live in Northern Virginia close to DC. I bought Dark Towers Penstemon a week and a half ago. The plant has been wilting for the past two days. Also the foliage are not as dark as when I first bought the plant. I water the plant and wait until the soil dries out a little between waterings. Why is my plant wilting? Just disappointed because I ordered Lauren's Grape Poppy seeds and was going to plant next to Dark Towers. I posted a link to a picture of Dark Towers with Lauren's Grape Poppy - so pretty!

Any information that you could provide would be greatly appreciated!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:222543}}

Boday, my Dark Towers started blooming on 5/28 this year. It goes for a good 3 weeks, maybe a bit longer. Last year, I had a second bloom late in the summer.

The seed pods are so attractive that if you don't cut back, it's still very pretty.

I bought two tiny plants from Bluestone last year, they've more than tripled in size, by next year they will be full size.

Bless you a2zmom for answering my question.

So basically Dark Towers bloom app as long as Husker's with darker foliage. The second bloom is intriguing.

Heritage Perennials lists both as

Blooming Time
Early Summer
Mid Summer
Late Summer

which has always bothered me as they are pretty accurate. Not in this case.

I just want to say these plants, both "Mystica" and "Dark Towers" look beautiful behind my Echinaceas. Try them with all kinds of Pink or Raspberry colored Echinaceas. Heck, they even look good with the white Echinaceas. They are so beautiful. I am rooting cuttings from the new growth at the base of the plants.

I've got 4 Penstemon 'Mystica' but the bed where they were planted last year gets increasingly less sunlight as trees around edge of property grow taller.

I planted them in mounds for better drainage as suggested somewhere online. Hard to water mounds and roots became exposed so I added soil around plant mounds.

There are 2 problems I'm having with them.

First, the stems came up all twisted and snap off very easily when I try to straighten and corral them from flopping all over. Lack of enough sunlight? They get about 4 hours total sunlight a day before sun goes over back of house.

Second, the leaves are all curled. There isn't any pest causing the curling and there's nothing sticky on them as residue from any pest. Why the leaf curling? Not enough water? Also, lack of enough sunlight?

I have 2 'Husker's Red' up by the mail box and they stand erect with good leaf condition. They get about 5 hours sun in morning and 2 hours late afternoon.

I'd sure appreciate any educated guesses you could give me.

I'm guessing I have to move them to a place where they can get more sunlight but I have no idea where I'll put them given their larger size.

Next year I'm going to leave the seedheads on...the stems look silly just standing there with flat heads of horizontal leaves...LOL.

I'm obsessive about deadheading because I got the idea somewhere that a plant uses energy to produce seed instead of putting it toward needed root growth.

Thanks. :)