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Climbing Penstemon
Keckiella cordifolia
  
About Climbing Penstemon (Keckiella cordifolia) 46 Nurseries Carry This Plant Keckiella cordifolia (formerly Penstemon cordifolius) is a species of flowering shrub in the plantain family known by the common name heartleaf keckiella. It is native to the coast and coastal mountains of southern California and northern Baja California, and it is a resident of chaparral and coastal woodland plant communities. This is a spreading shrub reaching maximum heights in excess of two meters. Its shiny green leaves are oval to heart-shaped, pointed, and edged with small teeth. They are 2 to 6 centimeters long and arranged oppositely on the branches. The shrub produces hairy, hairy flower clusters of many flowers each. The flower is somewhat tubular with a wide open mouth. It is fuzzy on the external surface and any shade of pale orange to deep scarlet. It is up to 3 centimeters long and 4 wide at the mouth, which has three flat lower lobes and two joined upper lobes. Inside the mouth are long filamentous stamens and a flat, hairy, yellow sterile stamen called a staminode.

Best to place this plant in shady slopes in hotter inland areas, preferably in places with a little more natural groundwater such as slope bottoms. Place in sunny spots in cooler coastal areas.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
3 - 6.6 ft tall
3 - 6 ft wide

Form
Form
Rounded, Spreading

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Fast

Dormancy
Dormancy
Summer Deciduous, Summer Semi-Deciduous

Fragrance
Fragrance
Slight

Flower Color
Flower Color
Red

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Spring, Summer

Wildlife Supported
 
Hummingbirds, butterflies, other pollinators

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 1 confirmed , 2 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Sympistis fortis Image
Sympistis fortisSympistis fortis
*
Sympistis singularis Image
Sympistis singularisSympistis singularis

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Part Shade, Full Sun

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low, Low

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / month once established

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to 0 - -5° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description
Soil Description
Adaptable. Soil PH: 6 - 8

Common uses
Common uses
Deer Resistant, Hummingbird Gardens, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Chamise, Woolly Bluecurls, White Sage, California Buckwheat, California Coffeeberry, Toyon, Lemonade Berry, Coastal Prickly Pear Cactus, Manzanita species, Yucca spp,

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: No treatment.

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
7, 8, 9, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Rocky, well drained slopes with chaparral, often in shade, in the southern part of the state and the coastal side of the mountain ranges

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 3.5" - 38.8", Summer Precipitation: 0.13" - 2.45", Coldest Month: 33.5" - 58.8", Hottest Month: 59.8" - 87.5", Humidity: 0.47" - 38.32", Elevation: -191" - 7419"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Heart-leaved Keckiella, Heartleaf Keckiella


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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