Pale Beardtongue

Penstemon pallidus

Pale beardtongue is the meadow and roadsidePenstemon of the mid-Atlantic and upper Midwest. one of the most adaptable and cold-hardy of the genus. The flowers are white with faint lavender guidelines inside the tube, small and numerous on slender upright spikes. They open in late spring and carry into early summer, attracting bumblebees and other native bees that probe the tubular flowers with their long tongues. Where other penstemons demand perfect drainage, this one tolerates a wider range of soils, including moderate clay. It forms tidy rosettes that persist through winter and spreads slowly by seed. Mass it in a meadow planting for a spring flush of white, or use it to fill gaps between stouter perennials that haven't leafed out yet.