Flowers and Plants
Great Design Plants: Penstemon Rostriflorus
Plant bridge penstemon, also called mountain fountains, for its long-blooming scarlet spikes that act like a living hummingbird feeder
Bridge penstemon (Penstemon rostriflorus), also called mountain fountains, is the longest-blooming and longest-lived of the Rocky Mountains’ native red beardtongue species. A hummingbird magnet, bridge penstemon is native from the high plateaus and peaks of the southern Rockies to southeastern California. Its fountain-like red flower spikes bloom from summer to fall, and the resulting seedpods provide food for chipmunks and other small wildlife in late winter and early spring.
Not from the western U.S.?: Browse plants native to other regions of the U.S.
Not from the western U.S.?: Browse plants native to other regions of the U.S.
Benefits and tolerances: Bridge penstemon is drought-tolerant and very long-lived for a penstemon. Its flowers attract hummingbirds, its dense growth provides cover for small wildlife and nesting habitat for native bees, and its seeds provide winter food for ants, chipmunks and other seed eaters.
Seasonal interest: Dark green foliage in spring; flowers from July through September
When to plant: Spring or early fall
Seasonal interest: Dark green foliage in spring; flowers from July through September
When to plant: Spring or early fall
Distinguishing traits. Rostriflorus, the species name of bridge penstemon, means “beaked flower,” for the way the upper lip at the end of each blossom’s tube curls inward like a beak or hood instead of flaring out like most penstemon flower tubes. The plant’s woody, multistemmed base is also unlike most penstemons, which tend to be narrowly tall plants with herbaceous bases.
Bridge penstemon is often described as having “evergreen” leaves, which isn’t strictly true. However, its opposite leaves do appear early and persist late, giving the plant an evergreen look.
This subshrub penstemon is also much longer-lived than most other beardtongue species. Plants have survived up to 20 years in botanic gardens, unusual in a group of plants known as short-lived perennials that may persist for only two to three years.
The common name “bridge” honors a 19th-century plant collector who shipped a specimen of this striking wildflower to the great botanist Asa Gray in 1868. Gray named the plant for the collector, and Penstemon bridgesii remained the scientific name until a century later, when an even earlier description of the plant by another 19th-century botanist, Albert Kellogg, was discovered. The scientific name Kellogg had given the plant, P. rostriflorus, took precedence, though bridge persists as a common name.
Photo by Stan Shebs
Bridge penstemon is often described as having “evergreen” leaves, which isn’t strictly true. However, its opposite leaves do appear early and persist late, giving the plant an evergreen look.
This subshrub penstemon is also much longer-lived than most other beardtongue species. Plants have survived up to 20 years in botanic gardens, unusual in a group of plants known as short-lived perennials that may persist for only two to three years.
The common name “bridge” honors a 19th-century plant collector who shipped a specimen of this striking wildflower to the great botanist Asa Gray in 1868. Gray named the plant for the collector, and Penstemon bridgesii remained the scientific name until a century later, when an even earlier description of the plant by another 19th-century botanist, Albert Kellogg, was discovered. The scientific name Kellogg had given the plant, P. rostriflorus, took precedence, though bridge persists as a common name.
Photo by Stan Shebs
How to use it. With its semievergreen leaves, late-summer bloom time and shrubby base, bridge penstemon is ideal for filling out and lending late-season color to xeric borders — pair its flashy scarlet flowers with white- or yellow-blooming perennials. It also works well as a specimen plant in rock gardens, where it stands out especially well among pale granite boulders, or naturalized in a prairie or dry meadow.
Planting notes. Bridge penstemon is less fussy about soil type than many beardtongues, thriving in clay, loamy or sandy soils. Like other penstemons, though, this species doesn’t do well in amended soil. Nor does it need fertilizing, which makes it grow quickly but die young.
Bridge penstemon is available in nurseries, but you can also grow your own plants from seeds or cuttings. Seeds require cold stratification (a month in the freezer in a moisture-retaining bag) before planting. Snip cuttings from nonflowering stems, then dip the cut end in rooting hormone before planting in a moist soil medium to root.
Photo by Laura Camp
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Planting notes. Bridge penstemon is less fussy about soil type than many beardtongues, thriving in clay, loamy or sandy soils. Like other penstemons, though, this species doesn’t do well in amended soil. Nor does it need fertilizing, which makes it grow quickly but die young.
Bridge penstemon is available in nurseries, but you can also grow your own plants from seeds or cuttings. Seeds require cold stratification (a month in the freezer in a moisture-retaining bag) before planting. Snip cuttings from nonflowering stems, then dip the cut end in rooting hormone before planting in a moist soil medium to root.
Photo by Laura Camp
More
Browse plants native to other regions of the U.S.
See more guides to growing flowers
Common names: Bridge penstemon, bridges’ penstemon, bridges’ beardtongue, mountain fountains penstemon, mountain scarlet beardtongue
Origin: Native to southwestern Colorado, Utah and Arizona west to southeastern California
Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 4 to 9; find your zone)
Water requirement: Bridge penstemon is drought-tolerant once established but may need supplemental water in areas with less than 15 inches of annual precipitation.
Light requirement: Full sun to light shade
Mature size: Up to 32 inches tall and 30 inches wide