Wyoming blue me away! (First movement)

Penstemon cyaneus

 Everybody goes gaga over Meconopsis....having spent magical times in the Himalayas (not to mention Scotland) I certainly get this. But what about penstemon? There are no end of charismatic penstemons--especially in the West--most of which are bluer than all get-out. In July of 2024 I was so enchanted by the blue of Penstemon cyaneus along the shore of Lake Yellowstone I took way too many pictures of it--which I shall now share with you. If you have a case of Endless Winter Blues, like I do--this could help!

Range of P. cyaneus

Pretty much confined to the Middle Rockies, it is certainly one of the good reasons to visit the area! I chuckle to think of all the similarly named penstemons: P. cyathophorum, P. cyananthus, P. cyanocaulis---all of them a brilliant blue (none of them "cyan" in color--instead they're all vivid navy blues.) And of course all their ranges overlap in the Middle Rockies! Nobody said Botany was logical!

I shan't drone on: just imagine this is just one of dozens of fantastic plants we saw that day. I believe our field trip this summer may be filled up, but if it isn't--hop on! We may be a tad early to see this so floriferous, however...

Doesn't it make a great foil for the sage behind it? Or vice versa...

I couldn't help myself...more...

A tad closer...

More....

Perhaps I should have left this one out...

Here between some hogweeds (Heracleum) that might give it competition till they bloom (they're monocarpic so that won't last!)

Growing with Polemonium pulcherrimum

One year (2016) I believe this stretch of beach was wall to wall Jacob's ladder--which seems to have diminished. By the way, lumping this with P. delicatum is nonsense in MY opinion...

I can't stop myself!

I wonder how many of the thousands of cars that drive by stop to admire these? None did while we were there..

Penstemon cf. rydbergii

I don't know how this snuck in--we found quite a few other penstemons. Egad! It's out of focus. So be it..

And of course there were some wannabes--like this glorious Lupine. 

Even if you don't join me on my tour of Northern Wyoming, there's no excuse for you not to attend the North American Rock Garden Society's annual meeting in Cheyenne this June. Fantastic line-up of speakers and field trips. Cheyenne Botanic Gardens (our sponsor) is the centerpiece: a garden cities ten or twenty size Cheyenne would envy. I've been to all manner of conferences in my day: NOTHING matches up to N.A.R.G.S. (And the Plant Sale will be worth it alone). Just click that cool logo to find out more.