Parry's Beardtongue or Parry's Penstemon (Penstemon parryi) is a native spring wildflower found here in the desert and in the mountain foothills around Tucson. Parry's Beardtongue is also a commonly cultivated garden plant here as well. Blooming Parry's Beardtongues are not only very beautiful with their tall stalks of pink flowers, they are also very popular with our native creatures like hummingbirds, Carpenter Bees, and especially Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor) butterflies.

The many blooming Parry's Beardtongues in my yard attract at least one Pipevine Swallowtail almost every day.

Usually, these lovely butterflies would have plenty of wildflowers to choose from at this time of year, but this dry spring, most of the blooming Parry's Beardtongues are in garden settings, so I have been seeing far more Pipevine Swallowtails in my garden than I normally would.

The nice thing about Parry's Beardtongues is that once these perennials are established in your garden, they tend to self-sow, so each year there are more of these nectar-rich flowers for the Pipevine Swallowtails to enjoy.