'Midnight Masquerade' Beardtongue Penstemon hybrid

I bought this plant at a garden center last year and it was beautiful. It came back this year in all its glory and I loved it so much, I ordered it from proven winners. Unfortunately, my experience with directly buying from Proven Winners was terrible. First the plants were late being sent and when they arrived they were so small. I paid $16.99 ea ( I bought three) plus $21 shipping. They arrived with the stem cut short and the plant no bigger than 8" high. So disappointed. If I had waited just a little longer, I could have gotten three large and fully developed plants from a big box store for $16.99 each and saved the shipping fee. I thought ordering it direct would have been better, but I was sorely disappointed. I will not order anything direct again.

Four plants were put in August of last year. They over-wintered beautifully with the foliage showing off during the rainy, but not terribly cold winter months. In the Spring, the plants came to life, grew and produced beautiful foliage and flowers. Unfortunately, here it is July and the stems are flopping over so the center of the plant is exposed. They're still flowering and look healthy, but the plants just look -- odd. They get about six hours of sun each day and they're watered through a drip system several times a week so I'm not sure if it's too much water or not enough sun (even though we've had very warm days we do have coastal morning fog at times)..

I planted this last year, spring, and it grew a little, and bloomed a little. It survived the winter just fine. This year, it has grown into its full-bodied size and is now in its blooming glory. It is sturdy, and gorgeous! I've seen a lot of bumblebees attracted to it, and yes, a hummingbird has been around. I am very pleased, thank you!!!