Gardening Excetera Column 7/2/11

THE PENSTEMON FESTIVAL
Cindy Murray

For high country gardeners nothing ushers in the monsoon better than the Penstemon Festival & Plant Sale at The Arboretum at Flagstaff.
Every year garden and nature enthusiasts come from miles around to participate in various activities designed to increase the appreciation and conservation of plants and animals native to the Colorado Plateau. This year the event will take place on July 9th from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Penstemons are perennial wildflowers comprised of over 250 species, many native or adapted to the Colorado Plateau. The tube-shaped flowers range in color from pinks and lavenders to deep reds and purples. Most are ideally suited for dry, sunny sites, but some species are adapted to partial shade and moist soil. The Arboretum has a garden devoted to penstemons and their companion plants. Botanist Dr. Gwendolyn Waring will be conducting tours of this delightful garden at 10:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.
This year, The Arboretum has partnered with the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center to educate the public about habitats. The Center will put on a wildlife program at 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. Live animals will be on display, and the animal handlers will be available to answer questions.
With over 2,500 species of plants featured in The Arboretum’s gardens, visitors will not want to miss one of the docent-led walks at 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 3:00 p.m. Highlights include an aspen grove, a riparian ecosystem, a transition zone ponderosa pine forest, a wildflower meadow, and demonstrations of water conservation techniques.
Greenhouses at The Arboretum have been in full swing for months nurturing native plants, including about thirty species and varieties of penstemons, to be offered at the Plant Sale. Whitney Rooney, Horticulturalist with The Arboretum, says that in addition to the usual Sunset Crater, Arizona, Palmer’s, Rocky Mountain, beardlip, and wandbloom penstemons, several species and varieties will make their debut this year. Sporting white or light pink flowers atop burgundy calyxes and stems, P. digitalis ‘Husker Red’, was Perennial Plant of the Year for 1996. It reaches a height of thirty inches and prefers moist, well-drained soil. P. mexicali ‘Pikes Peak Purple’ is a 1999 Plant Select winner. Its bulbous grape colored flowers show off white throats with purple streaking. P. barbatus ‘Prairie Dusk’ bears a profusion of blue to purple blossoms on a twenty-inch tall spike. Its leaves retain their deep green color year round. Also appearing for the first time this year are P. grandiflorus, P. rydbergii, and P. hallii .
Local growers and landscapers will be at the sale as well, offering a plethora of native vegetation. Depending upon stock on hand, Flagstaff Native Plant and Seed will be offering the following and more for sale: mountain snowberry, which bears white egg-shaped fruit and is rarely found in nurseries; leafy Jacob’s ladder, a perennial with creamy flowers found on the San Francisco Peaks; flats of native grasses and sedges; groundcovers such as pussytoes and silver cinquefoil; currants; junipers; and penstemons.
Growers from Warner’s Nursery will likely bring the following, and more to the plant sale: western blue flax, a perennial that thrives along east Route 66 in Flagstaff; desert four-o-clock, a shrublike perennial that grows in elevations of 2,500 feet to 6,500 feet and bears reddish-pink flowers; threeleaf sumac (skunkbush) whose leaves turn bright crimson in fall; Wood’s rose whose red fruits or hips are relished by birds; four-wing saltbush, an extremely drought and salt-tolerant shrub with deep roots that prevent erosion; herbs; snakeweed; and penstemons.
There will be a members’ preview Friday afternoon (July 8), so now is a great time to become a member of The Arboretum. Rooney says, “If people are really keen on getting the best selection, they should come on Friday.” Additionally, members will receive a 10% discount both days of the sale. Growers will give a presentation on featured plants from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., followed by the sale from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.
The Arboretum is located on Woody Mountain Road four miles south of Route 66 in west Flagstaff. For more information, visit www.thearb.org. or call 928-774-1442.
Cindy Murray, a biologist and substitute elementary teacher, is a Master Gardener. Dana Prom Smith edits GARDENING ETCETERA, blogs at http://highcountrygardener.blogspot.com and can be emailed at stpauls@npgcable.com.