In article , "gregpresley"
wrote:

Penstemons are native to the southwest for the most part. Perhaps Atlanta's
climate is too wet and humid for them to bloom well?

If the soil never dries out or is along a watering system, that'd do it
all righty. But blooms would also be difficult to achieve in too rich a
soil with nitrogen fertilizer which penstemons do not want (regular
fertilizing would induce big thick leafy appearance devoid of flowers).
What Sterling describes as "same water and food that their close neighbors
get" could well be conditions both of too much water & too much
fertilizer, which would be a bloom-squashing combination. The other
bloom-stoppers are too much shade, & when a clump is a few years old & the
clump extremely large, it will bloom decreasingly well until not at all, &
will probably need to be discarded & replaced with a younger plant,
possibly with well-rooted cuttings prepared in advance.

-paghat the ratgirl

"Sterling" wrote in message
...
I have a lot of them - in various locations around my house. Variety of
sun/shade conditions. Mostly sun with a bit of shade. None of them have
bloomed this year or last year. Other flowers close to them bloom and do
well...

They are thick and bushy. Get the same water and food that their close
neighbors get. They did bloom year before last and were just beautiful.
I have a bunch of Husker's Red Penstemon that have done wonderfully.

What gives? Any requirements I don't know about? I am in Atlanta and it
does get pretty cold here. Down to 10 or 12 degrees F some winters. A
lot of the low twenties. I add this because a lot of people seem to
think we are very close to Miami...

I've done my net research and now it's time to ask the real people.

TIA

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com