Here is the picture for this week. Size of the plant is not changing, but the buds are larger. There is considerable change between this photo and the first photo. other photos

Wednesday again

This plant is not getting and bigger. It looks a lot healthier than the first picture after transplanting. Buds are beginning to develop. The size looks similar to the plants where I collected the seed. Robert said it is Penstemon humulis.

Unknown penstemon

There has been some change since the last picture was taken. Some flower buds have began to develop. Once it blooms I will be able to determine just what penstemon it is. The penstemon flower has five stemons.

Unknown Penstemon Post II

It has been seven days since the last picture. The first picture show transplant shock. This picture shows that the pensteman has recovered from the shock and is looking pretty good. We will follow this plant until it blooms. It is in a one gallon pot, which is less than a gallon, but called gallon anyway.

The Unknown Penstemon

In the summer of 2007 I was looking at the wild flowers along the Cal Valley. There are five different penstemons along that road. Penstemon humulis, eatonii, tidestromi, comarrhenus, and one unknown. I collected seed from a penstemon that I didn't know. They were planted in the late fall of the same year. I plant my seeds in a 1020 germination tray in the early winter of each year. They are placed in a cold frame for the winter. the doors are screened to keep the birds out. I have to water them once a week during the winter. Then I have to blow the water out of the lines to keep them from freezing. I didn't notice any germination of the unknown penstemon last spring and summer. I was looking at last year's trays and discovered that the unknown penstemon was germinating, and there were five plants from last year that were growing quite large. There were numerous seedlings that had emerged this spring. I transplanted the five into gallon pots and put the tray back on the bench to wait for more transplanting. When the five bloom this spring, I will be able to identify them. I think that they are humulis, but we will see. The picture is of the repotted penstemon. It is suffering a little from the stress of transplanting. I will be showing its progress with a weekly picture.