Spring tidy for Penstemons
Penstemons are wonderful perennials and surprisingly hardy with correct treatment. They take exception to being cut back in the Autumn or Winter and may well keel over as a result.
The time to remove all those woody growths from the previous year is when you can see a nice clump of new growth coming.
It does mean that during Jan/Feb/Mar they look slightly bedraggled but it's worth putting up with for their glorious flowers over a long season.
In the New Forest UK I've just done mine (April 22nd) and they look so much better for it. It's not really the date that matters though, just go by the appearance of a few inches of nice new growth that is clearly fresh in the current year.
After their tidy-up give them a feed of some blood, fish and bone or a pelleted slow release fertiliser.
A great source of named varieties is Hayloft Plants
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