One of the prettiest plants in the spring shade garden is Pulmonaria (pronounced pul-mo-NARE-ee-ah). I love the way its flowers open pink, then turn purple, and then change to a deep blue. Even after the flowers fade, the leaves have attractive white blotches. I have tried to grow this plant in my own shade garden several times without success. It wasn’t until I did research for this blog that I discovered the root cause (pun intended) of my failures.
Pulmonaria likes shade, which I have. It is winter hardy in zones 3 to 8, but it also likes a soil that leans alkaline, while mine is acidic. It is a bit demanding with soil moisture. It prefers a moist soil, but will rot if too wet. Dry soil spells death. If you follow this blog regularly, you know that I am not fond of watering.
If you have the correct conditions, Pulmonia will spread slowly but is not considered invasive. Plants are propagated by division, best done in autumn. A mature plant reaches about twelve inches in height.
One of the common names for Pulmonaria is Lungwort because in Medieval time the plant was used as a treatment for diseased lungs. Leaves are edible but not tasty. Deer and rabbits tend to leave them alone, but pollinators visit the flowers.
Pulmonaria flowers open as pink, then turn purple, before they mature to a deep blue.
Mature flowers
Pulmonaria is pretty even when its not blooming. Its leaves look like Hosta with freckles.