Beardtongue (Penstemon 'Sweet Joanne')
Penstemon 'Sweet Joanne' Beardtongue offers lavender-pink blooms from May to July. Hardy in zones 5-9, it thrives in full sun.
Complete Plant Information
Overview
The attractive Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ is a popular herbaceous perennial valued for its dense, upright clumping habit and extended flowering season. This hybrid Beardtongue produces striking lavender-pink, tubular flowers with contrasting white throats, making it a vibrant addition wherever it is planted. Growers appreciate that Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ maintains a manageable size, typically reaching 1 to 2 feet tall and wide.
As a reliable performer, this Beardtongue offers excellent resistance to many common garden pests, complementing its aesthetic appeal with low-hassle gardening. It prefers lean, well-drained soils and significant sun exposure throughout the growing season. Incorporating Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ into your landscape ensures season-long color interest from late spring well into summer.
This variety, known scientifically here as Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’, belongs to a large genus primarily native to North America, offering gardeners tough, beautiful specimens perfect for modern borders and xeriscaping designs.
Fast Facts
- Plant Family: Plantaginaceae
- Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
- Hardiness Zones: USDA Zones 5-9
- Size at Maturity:
- Height: 1-2 ft
- Spread: 1-2 ft
- Bloom Time: May to July
- Bloom Description: Lavender pink
- Sun Exposure: Full sun
- Water Needs: Dry to medium
- Maintenance Level: Medium
How to Grow
Cultivating Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ successfully begins with proper site preparation, focusing heavily on drainage. Plant this Beardtongue in areas receiving full sun, as insufficient light can lead to weak stems. It thrives in average soils, provided they are well-drained; avoid heavy, poorly-drained ground where root rot is a significant risk. Spring planting is often ideal, allowing the plant to establish roots before summer heat arrives.
Once established, Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ exhibits good tolerance for drought and summer heat, requiring only dry to medium supplemental watering. Water deeply but infrequently, allowing the soil to dry out between irrigation sessions. Fertilizing is generally unnecessary, as high fertility can promote floppy growth rather than robust flowering.
Routine maintenance involves deadheading; remove spent flowering racemes promptly to encourage the possibility of repeat blooming later in the season. After the main flush, you can cut the stems back closer to the basal, glossy green foliage to neaten the appearance of the area. In colder parts of its hardiness range (Zones 5 and 6), providing a loose winter mulch around the base can offer protection against harsh freeze/thaw cycles.
Landscape Uses
Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ excels in sunny locations where its medium height provides excellent middle-border structure. Its drought tolerance makes it a superb choice for rock gardens or xeriscaped plantings where water conservation is a priority. The compact habit of this Beardtongue also ensures it fits neatly into cottage garden designs, mixing well with salvias, yarrow, and ornamental grasses that share similar sun and soil demands.
Consider using several clumps of Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ for repetition across a sunny border, which maximizes the visual impact of the lavender-pink flowers. While generally noted for being pest-free, combining it with other sun-loving, tough perennials creates a resilient, low-maintenance planting scheme. This Beardtongue is particularly effective in open woodland areas that receive dappled sunlight, provided the soil remains lean and dry rather than moist.
Standout Features
Flower Qualities
- Showy
Noteworthy Characteristics
Penstemons are sometimes commonly called beardtongues because the sterile stamen (staminode) can be hairy. ‘Sweet Joanne’ is an x mexicali hybrid penstemon that typically grows in a dense upright clump to 15-18” tall. It is noted for its lavender pink flowers, glossy bright green leaves, excellent resistance to pests and compact habit; two-lipped, tubular flowers bloom from late spring well into summer.
Tolerances
- Deer
Potential Problems
The chief cultural problem for Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ is root rot, which occurs when the plant sits in wet, poorly-drained soils, emphasizing the need for excellent drainage. Foliage may occasionally be affected by fungal issues such as leaf spots, rusts, or powdery mildew in humid conditions. Cultural practices focused on good air circulation and avoiding overhead watering can mitigate these risks. Additionally, keep an eye out for chewing pests like slugs and snails, and monitor for spider mites, although deer tend to avoid this variety.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zones is Beardtongue suitable for?
Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ Beardtongue is suitable for USDA Hardiness Zones 5 through 9.
How large does Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ grow?
This perennial typically reaches a height and spread ranging from 1 to 2 feet at maturity.
What sun exposure does Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ need?
This Beardtongue requires full sun exposure to thrive and produce its best display of lavender-pink blooms.
When does Beardtongue bloom?
Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ produces its showy flowers primarily from May through July.
Conclusion
Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ offers gardeners a colorful, structurally sound, and relatively low-maintenance perennial perfect for hot, sunny locations. Its durability and attractive lavender-pink flowers ensure this Beardtongue remains a garden staple. Before planting, confirm your garden site offers the required full sun and excellent drainage to ensure the best performance from your new Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’.
Companion Planting
Selecting suitable companions is key to maximizing the visual and cultural success of Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’. Look for other drought-tolerant plants that require similar full sun and lean soil profiles. Excellent partners include hardy varieties of Echinacea (Coneflower), Sedum, and Achillea (Yarrow). These companions share the Beardtongue’s preference for dry feet, ensuring no single plant requires excessive moisture that could harm the Penstemon in a mixed border.
Design Ideas
The upright habit of Penstemon ‘Sweet Joanne’ makes it an excellent “thriller” or structural element in container arrangements, especially when paired with trailing herbs or mounding silver foliage plants. In the landscape, mass plantings of this x mexicali hybrid create ribbons of color that contrast beautifully against gravel mulch or pale flagstone pathways. Because the foliage is often glossy and evergreen in milder climates, ensuring it is placed where its neat form is visible even when not in bloom adds year-round structure.
