Featured Plants

So many plants, so little time! Welcome to our Featured Plants section. Here are some plants to consider for your garden.

This time our featured plant is Pulmonaria, or everlasting, a gray foliage plant and a late summer and fall-blooming perennial suitable for drought areas.

Pulmonaria - Lungwort

Lungwort  -  not the most enticing common name, is it? Keep in mind, however, that its derivation is medicinal. Lungwort became the common name of Pulmonaria because, to the herbalists of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the foliage resembled that of a diseased lung. The spotted foliage that looks as though it is sparkling with sunlight has made Pulmonaria an invaluable perennial for the partially shaded garden.

Sometimes, people forget that shade is an asset, not a liability. Get hold of a catalog and start reading Pulmonaria descriptions. You’ll be amazed at the selection. All of a sudden, the shady area isn’t large enough. Hosta may be the best known perennial for shade but it is also deer fodder. Fortunately, Pulmonaria is not.

There are many species of Pulmonaria which have been used to create the new cultivars. They are P.saccharata with its white-dotted green foliage and pink flower buds that open and age to blue, P.longifolia of which the foliage is similar in color to that of P.saccharata but is much longer and narrower and has eye-catching purple blue flowers, P.angustifolia and P.officianalis which have no spotting.

One of the most talked about newer hybrids is P.’Victorian Brooch’. Its leaves are heavily spotted and its flowers are coral to rosy red. In Oregon, it bloomed for two and a half months but that won’t happen for us because it doesn’t stay cool here. However, we may be fortunate enough to have it bloom for four to six weeks. Another recent introduction is ‘Berries and Cream’ which again has silvered foliage and very rosy red flowers. My favorite blue-flowerer is P.’Trevi Fountain’ which has medium to dark flowers and blooms first and longest in my garden.

My other favorite Pulmonaria are the silver ones for they light up the shady pockets as nothing else can. Some of the early cultivars, such as ’Excalibur’ and ’British Sterling’ have tended to be somewhat weak because they have little chlorophyll but there are newer, stronger cultivars now in the trade such as ’Silver Streamers’ with narrower leaves and P.longifolia spp.cevennensis with even narrower leaves and the dark blue flowers that are typical of that species.

Another species, P.rubra, is quite different. This one has hairy foliage that is green with a wide creamy margin. It blooms earlier than the other Pulmonaria and has coral red blossoms. ‘David Ward’ is the cultivar I particularly like. It stays more compact than the species, eighteen to twenty inches wide instead of thirty inches wide. None of the Pulmonaria grow more than twelve inches high. This Pulmonaria seems to like a bit more sun than the others but not afternoon sun.

The most important thing to remember about Pulmonaria culture is that they should not be allowed to dry out. Wilted, raggedy plants are not attractive and this will be the result without regular watering. However, wet soil will kill them so be sure that the soil is well-drained and preferably humusy. While older cultivars of Pulmonaria frequently suffer from powdery mildew, the new ones have been bred for mildew resistance. If placed in morning sun, and /or an area with good air circulation, this is not much of a problem.

Buy some Pulmonaria and enjoy the shade!