How to Use penstemon in a Sentence

penstemon

noun
  • Poppies, penstemons, marigolds, and cactus blooms are but a few of the florals popping this time of year.
    Kate Wertheimer, Sunset Magazine, 17 Jan. 2020
  • Some of her favorite plants to add to attract hummingbirds are bee balm, lupine, salvia, columbine and penstemon.
    Joanne Kempinger Demski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3 Sep. 2020
  • Nectar-producing plants such as penstemon, bee balm, and columbine appeal to hummingbirds.
    Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 14 Mar. 2026
  • Nectar-producing plants such as penstemon, bee balm, and columbine are attractive to hummingbirds.
    Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 8 Jan. 2023
  • The common buckeye’s host plants are snapdragon, mimulus, penstemon and plantain.
    Sara Okeefe, Mercury News, 17 Nov. 2025
  • But smaller tubular flowers, such as penstemon and pentas, can attract both types of pollinators.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 1 Mar. 2026
  • In the Tahoe area, flower hunters should find mule’s ears, balsamroots, paintbrushes, penstemons and lupines, Carville said.
    Debbie Arrington, sacbee.com, 28 May 2017
  • Some abundant species can deliver up to 16 gallons; others a cup or so, like prairie violet and slender penstemon.
    Bob Timmons, Star Tribune, 31 July 2020
  • As the flood was beginning to wane, a monarch was crossing the valley, momentarily dipping down to sip nectar from a patch of penstemons still standing.
    Literary Hub, 3 Mar. 2026
  • One of Banner’s favorite native plant species is pine leaf penstemon, a beautiful ground cover that comes in several colors.
    Caroleine James, The Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Aug. 2021
  • The Sutherland Trail offers the best assortment of flowers with poppies, cream cups, lupines, penstemon and desert chicory.
    Roger Naylor, AZCentral.com, 21 Feb. 2026
  • Every inch of the perimeter is covered with plastic and ceramic pots brimming with buckwheat and verbena, dudleya, penstemon and black sage.
    Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2023
  • The plant to which Savolainen refers is yellow bush penstemon (Keckiella antirrhinoides).
    Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 14 Mar. 2026
  • There are hummer plants that everyone is familiar with, most notably salvias, penstemons, buddlejas, foxgloves and fuchsias.
    Earl Nickel, SFChronicle.com, 18 Oct. 2019
  • Its fragrant yellow blooms, whose production increases as the weather warms, look like a cross between those of a penstemon and a snapdragon, which are familial kin.
    Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 14 Mar. 2026
  • Repeat combinations in different beds, such as clusters of alliums, coneflowers and penstemon next to moor grass.
    Lauren Dunec Hoang, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 Sep. 2022
  • Other blooms include golden-beard penstemon, Indian paintbrush, yarrow and goldeneye.
    Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 24 Feb. 2022
  • Midnight Masquerade penstemon Hirsch likes this newer penstemon − also known as beardtongue − for its deep burgundy leaves that set off lavender and white flowers.
    Joanne Kempinger Demski, Journal Sentinel, 23 Mar. 2023
  • Come mid-March, spring flowers like desert marigolds, brittle brush, and perry penstemon fill the park’s several gardens with color, and native milkweed attracts monarch butterflies.
    Sunset, 22 Jan. 2018
  • Come in summer, and you’ll be rewarded with expansive fields of wild flowers, including white and yellow daisies, magenta elephant heads, and deep pink Whipple’s penstemons.
    Chloe Arrojado, AFAR Media, 21 May 2025
  • Plant –Sow cool-season natives like desert marigold and penstemon, which appreciate lower temperatures for germination.
    Kristin Guy, Sunset Magazine, 24 Sep. 2024
  • Roadside pops of color, courtesy of lupine, penstemon, clover, thistle and blooming shrubs, brighten meadows while tiny waterholes harbor mini wetland environs rife with water buttercups, frogs and elk.
    Mare Czinar, The Arizona Republic, 15 July 2022
  • In the casual garden, roses contrast and pair wonderfully with the vertical showy spikes of foxgloves, penstemons, delphiniums, stock and snapdragons and the tiny, dainty flowers of alyssum, daisies and nemesia.
    Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Feb. 2025
  • The garden is home to currants, ferns, monkeyflower, bee plant, manzanitas, California lilac, penstemon, sages, buckeye trees and annual wildflowers.
    Marta Yamamoto, The Mercury News, 12 Apr. 2017
  • For example, penstemon is a drought-tolerant, flowering perennial native to North America that's a popular garden plant.
    Derek Carwood, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 May 2020
  • For the curious and hopeful, look for the orange of poppies at Picacho Peak State Park and the spikey penstemon at Catalina State Park.
    Mindy Sink, Denver Post, 16 Mar. 2026
  • In Brian Bautista’s yard, upright showy penstemon, aromatic hummingbird sage, hardy toyon trees, and two types of milkweed — dramatic plants requiring little water — attract birds, butterflies and bees and flourish amid the Bermuda grass lawns.
    Lisa Boone, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2023
  • Depending on rainfall and temperature, the first-comers include milkmaids, shooting stars, and Indian warriors, followed by California poppies, bush poppies, fiesta flowers, monkey flowers, baby blue eyes, and bush lupine, and finally the heat-loving clarkias, orchids, penstemon, and roses.
    Deb Hopewell, AFAR Media, 29 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'penstemon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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