This One Rocks

Aug 2, 2010
It's not red but it definitely rocks.

It rocks because it's drought-tolerant and it rocks when honey bees and bumble bees visit it.

And it's pretty. The Penstemon x Mexicali "Red Rocks" is a white-throated cherry-pink flower.

One look at it and you know it's a member of the snapdragon/foxglove family (Plantaginaceae). As kids, we used to slip foxglove flowers on our fingers and pretend we were wearing gloves.

With "Red Rocks," however, you'll have to compete with the bees. Last weekend we spotted honey bees and bumble bees (yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii) foraging on our newly acquired Penstemon.

By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Author - Communications specialist

Attached Images:

HONEY BEE enters a Penstemon x Mexicali

Honey Bee

HONEY BEE exits a Pensemon x Mexicali

Exit

A BUMBLE BEE slips deep inside a Penstemon x Mexicali

Tunneling In