Re: Pulmonaria

 Pulmonaria in America

     by Dan Heims

     Relegated to grandma's shade garden for too many years, Pulmonaria
are beginning to have a resurgence in popularity.
     Pest resistant, slug resistant, hardy and attractive are all traits
of this genus. Newer forms, especially those derived from
     Pulmonaria villarsae have shown tremendous mildew resistance, a
bane to older forms.

     Natives of Eurasia

     Natives of shady woods and scrublands from Siberia to Italy, these
plants are often the harbinger of spring. I've seen
     glorious photographs of orchards in France where the plants have
naturalized. Wall to wall carpets of cobalt-blue
     Pulmonaria angustifolia reflecting the sky through the naked apple
branches in March makes quite a show. The flowers
     range from salmon (Pulmonaria 'Redstart') through raspberry (P.
'Berries and Cream') to sky blue (P. 'Roy Davidson'). An
     outstanding characteristic of most Pulmonaria is the fact that the
flowers turn totally different shades as they age; pinks
     may fade to blues, wines to reds, or the reverse! Some, like P.
'Sissinghurst White' and the coral 'Bowle's Red' hold their
     color for the whole blooming period.

     The other exciting aspect of Pulmonaria is the foliage. Background
colors may vary from apple-green through olive to an
     almost black-emerald. Brilliant silver spotting may run from
lightly dusted to solid silver (P. 'Excalibur' PP# 8958). Foliage
     shape is another variable. Leaves can be lanceolate (spear-shaped)
like P. 'E. Bertram Anderson' to oval as in P.
     angustifolia azurea. The latter plant is one of the dwarves of the
genus, rarely reaching 8" high. Plants like P. longifolia
     ssp. cevennensis can top out at 28" tall! One characteristic that I
have added to my line is that of ruffled edges. This is
     seen in P. 'Berries and Cream' and P. 'Silver Streamers'. I hope to
patent the latter in 1996.

     Hosta and Pulmonaria will share the same domain. Cool, shady spots
are ideal. P. longifolia forms are more sun-tolerant,
     but all wilt badly in the full sun. These will resurrect quickly
once the day cools. Pulmonaria love a well composted loam
     and will live in nearly any soil except sticky clay. Fertilizer
requirements are minimal. I use approximately 2 tsp. of a slow
     release fertilizer (Osmocote, Sierra-Blend) once a season, after
the plants have flowered. Plants in containers can live with
     even less.

     Pest-Free and Easy to Propagate

     Pulmonaria are one of the few plants in the garden which suffer
from virtually no pests. Cutworms may occasionally
     attack and aphids may be troublesome in the greenhouse but are
rarely a problem outside. Viruses are rarely seen and I've
     yet to see leaf-nematodes cause trouble. Mildew is a definite
concern for the older forms of Pulmonaria and one should try
     to keep these plants in an open, airy position with no nighttime or
overhead watering.

     Propagation of Pulmonaria is quite easy. Divisions can be made in
late spring and root cuttings can be made over the
     winter months. Seed is variable in outcome, but is very large and
easy to germinate. The most difficult part is in the
     collection of fresh seed. Looking into the calyx after the flower
has dropped off, you will see the single seed developing.
     Over the next few weeks the seed will change from white to black
and will detach with the slightest breeze and disappear
     unless you construct a collection facility of some sort. Most
gardeners let nature take its course and find many delightful
     seedlings about the garden. Bumble bees and honeybees are rabid
pollinators which I have watched flitting from one specie
     to the other. This opens the possibilities of some wonderful
natural crosses. I have set up many crosses in the greenhouse
     between Pulmonaria vallarsae, P. saccharata, P. longifolia, P.
angustifolia, and P. rubra. Most bloom simultaneously,
     however I have had to take pollen of the earlybirds on black
pipe-cleaners and store them in film cans in my freezer until
     others bloom. Crosses need to be made several times during the day
for best fertilization. Remember that unless you are
     very lucky, it takes hundreds or thousands of seedlings and years
of testing to come up with an introducible plant.

     While Pulmonaria are often seen as individual specimens, they are
best planted en masse. The effect of a clump of
     pure-silver P. 'Excalibur' 2'x5' long is positively illuminating.
Leave it to the English and Canadians to blend the Pulmonaria
     artistically with Japanese Painted Fern, Foliage Heuchera, and
Ophiopogon. One planting at Chanticleer in Pennsylvania
     featured only the dark wine foliage of Heuchera 'Chocolate Veil'
and the P. 'Excalibur' in a sumptuous tapestry of
     counterpoint. Pulmonaria do well in large containers, but cannot be
used in small ones as they resent drying out.

     What's Available

     While the British Plant Finder lists 75 varieties of Pulmonaria in
their '94-'95 edition, we in America can only find the
     following varieties:

          P. 'Mrs. Moon' - This name is applied to many spotted forms.
They are mildew-prone with fair flowers. They have
          mediocre to good silver in the spotting and a compact shape.
          P. rubra 'Redstart' - A very good, almost overvigorous grower
with large salmon bell flowers and no spotting.
          P. rubra 'Bowle's Red '- (similar to the above.) Foliage is
muddy green with faint spotting.
          P. longifolia 'E. Bertram Anderson' - small cobalt bells held
tightly together over delicious dark green strap leaves.
          It is brightly silver spotted, but with a floppy form it looks
poor at the end of blooming.
          P. 'Roy Davidson'- A child of the above with broader leaves,
more spotting and light blue flowers which fade to pink.
          This is a Lovely form.
          P. angustifolia azurea - Extremely early cobalt flowers make a
wonderful foil for Narcissus. Leaves are unspotted
          and compact.
          P. villarsae 'Margery Fish' - This plant has large flowers
that arrive early. It is free from mildew and a vigorous
          grower with large, well-spotted leaves. A superior plant and
my main breeder.

     What's in Store

     The following Terra-Nova cultivars and introductions from other
growers are just now entering the American scene:

          P. villarsae 'Excalibur' PP#8958 - Striking silver leaves
edged in emerald green. Large flowers range from pink to
          blue. Outstanding vigor and mildew resistance. Patented form.
          P. 'Spilled Milk' - Compact foliage is 'splashed' with silvery
milk. Mildew resistant, robust. Flowers are borne tightly
          on compact stalks. Blue flowers fade to pink.
          P. 'Little Star' - ( P. longifolia 'Bertram Anderson' x P.
angustifolia) This cross yielded a plant with fuzzy,
          lance-shaped leaves, unusual silver spotting and magnificent,
large cobalt blue blooms in profusion. Ours bloomed for
          several months.
          P. 'Milky Way'- Our largest cultivar, with well spotted,
lance-shaped leaves and wine-colored blooms.
          P. 'Regal Ruffles'- A breakthrough on several fronts: first,
it has ruffled flowers; and second, the clasping vestigial
          leaves of the stalk form a halo around the flower cluster.
This plant is compact and well silvered.
          P. 'Baby Blue' - Another unique form with bright silvering
intensifying toward the tips and profuse sky-blue flowers
          of good size. The baby-blue flowers fade to pink.
          P. 'Berries and Cream' - The first of our crosses with P.
rubra. Unique raspberry flower color and most remarkable
          light ruffling along the edge in a compact form.
          P. 'David Ward' - from Beth Chatto's nursery in England comes
this first variegated form named after her
          propagator, David Ward. Mint-green leaves bordered in white
support salmon pink blooms in earliest spring.
          Occasional all-green or all-white leaves pop-up, but this
plant is a certified knock-out
          P. 'Silver Streamers' PPAF - Brilliant, pure silver
lance-shaped leaves, uniquely stippled and ruffled along the entire
          border puts this Pulmonaria in a class by itself. Will not be
released until '96.
          P. longifolia var. cevennensis - Some species can't be
improved. Fabulous lance shaped leaves, up to 28" long are
          produced in profusion. Leaves are well silvered and the blooms
are more like P. saccharata than P. longifolia.

     What does the future hold for Pulmonaria? Communications with the
likes of Vanessa Cook of Stillingfleet Nurseries (who
     holds the national Pulmonaria collection) have been fruitful in
providing information on a plethora of species that may hold
     the blood for generations to come. Meanwhile, watch your seedlings,
grow them for several years (three is best) and if you
     come up with something unique, we'd love to see it.



     Dan Heims is the proprietor of Terra Nova Nursery in Portland,
Oregon. Dan is well known in the nursery trade for
     his introductions of the most exciting new Heucheras and
Pulmonarias.

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