Pulmonaria officinalis
Garden Plant Information

Pulmonaria officinalis

 

Pulmonaria officinalis

 

Name

Pulmonaria officinalis (also called lungwort)

Genus  

Pulmonaria

Species

officinalis

Cultivar/variety

 

General description

Hardy, semi-evergreen, herbaceous perennial. Grown for early flowers in shades from dark blue to pink and its silver mottled leaves. Pulmonaria provides welcome colour in early spring and is a good ground cover plant for shady areas.

 

Very attractive to pollinating insects.

Season of interest

Flowers in early spring.

Key horticultural features

  1. Habit - clump-forming, fairly upright. H: up to 30cm. S: 90cm

  2. Stems - green, hairy, straight.

  3. Leaves - simple, ovate, hairy, dark green with silvery-white mottling.

  4. Flowers - trumpet shaped, arranged in loose terminal clusters, colours  range from pink and blue, though white flowers are also seen. Up to 5-10mm across with five petals.

 

Cultural details

Aspect

Sun or partial shade.

Soil

Moisture retentive but not wet, humus rich.

Hardiness

Fully hardy.

Maintenance

Remove older ragged-looking leaves as they age and divide clumps every three to five years. Plants cut back after flowering will produce a new flush of silver spotted leaves in autumn.

 

In dry weather, powdery mildew can be a problem. This can be helped by mulching and watering well in dry conditions. Young leaves are often attacked by slugs and snails, though older leaves tend not to be bothered. Sparrows are also known to peck off the flowers in spring, as they do with other flowering plants such as yellow crocuses and primroses.

Propagation

 

Divide clumps every three to five years after flowering or in autumn, take root cuttings in winter. Sow seed outdoors as soon as it is ripe. Will also self seed but cultivars will probably not come true from seed.