Hairy Beardtongue: Much Prettier Than Its Name!
Grow hairy beardtongue for bees and hummingbirds, and add a splash of color to your garden
Known as hairy beardtongue, Penstemon hirsutus is a beardtongue native to the Eastern United States, with a compact growth habit that suits smaller garden spaces. Its early summer flowers feed hummingbirds, butterflies and bees while adding a splash of pastel color to the front or middle of garden beds. This adaptable perennial fits both naturalistic gardens and more formally designed spaces.
Common name: Hairy beardtongue
Botanical name: Penstemon hirsutus
Origin: Penstemon hirsutus is native to dry woods and rocky fields across roughly the northeastern quadrant of the United States. Its range extends from Maine west to Wisconsin and south to Virginia and Kentucky.
Flowers: In late spring through early summer, hairy beardtongue blooms with upright spikes of tubular flowers that range from the palest pink to lavender or violet in color. It is said that warm temperatures bring out deeper purple tones in the flowers. The interior of the flower is white with some yellow speckling, making a good target for pollinators. Penstemons are known as beardtongues because of a fuzzy, sterile stamen that protrudes—like a tongue—at the opening of each flower, enticing pollinators.
Foliage: This beardtongue earned the descriptor "hairy" from the fine hairs that cover its stems and long, narrow leaves.
Size and habit: The foliage clump reaches about 12 to 20 inches tall and 10 inches wide. The flower spikes add another 10 to 12 inches in height when they appear. Hairy beardtongue's size makes it a good small-garden alternative to another northeastern native penstemon, P. digitalis, a coarser plant that can get up to 5 feet tall in bloom.
Growing hairy beardtongue
Exposure: Full sun to part shade or dappled light
How to grow it: Hairy beardtongue grows in full sun, partial shade or the dappled light beneath a tree canopy. It adapts to a range of soil conditions, although good drainage is a must. It naturally tolerates thin, dry, rocky soils, but it will not suffer in moderately moist, good garden soil. It also adapts to clay. It can spread by reseeding, but it is not aggressive. Seed is the recommended propagation method for this penstemon, and it requires cold stratification. USDA Zones 4–8.
