Pulmonarias Margaret Stone
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©Adrian ©Adrian James Pulmonarias Margaret Stone Fig. 3a P. longifolia subsp. cevennensis ulmonarias are typical partially shaded sites, such as P of plants appreciated woodland margins, although by HPS members: they are some grow in open meadows usually tough and long lived, which are sufficiently moist they provide interest in most and cool. They are good ©Margaret Stone months of the year and they additions to a shade garden, occur in many varieties to if it is not dry, but they satisfy the collector instinct. can also thrive in the open, Indeed, we have a Special particularly when shaded Interest Group for them. by summer perennials. Fig. 1 P. officinalis Cambridge However, garden centres stock Any soil is suitable as long as Blue Group very few cultivars and there it is not dry or waterlogged. is no Plant Heritage National The addition of humus at Collection so the Society has planting-time helps and an now become important in annual mulch is beneficial. ©Adrian ©Adrian James their conservation. I obtained Propagation is by my first plant in the early division and it is advisable to 1980s; I do not remember rejuvenate a clump in this way if it was labelled but, if so, it every few years, discarding would have been Pulmonaria old, woody rhizomes and officinalis, although it probably replanting healthy stock. had some hybrid character. Autumn is the best time to Fig. 2 P. longifolia A few more followed but it divide pulmonarias but it can was P. ‘Blue Ensign’ which be done in early spring. really got me hooked. It was The flowers consist of a acquired at a snowdrop event cylindrical tube which ends in ©Adrian James and proved more successful a five-lobed corolla, the part than the snowdrops I that is visible, 0.5–1.5cm in bought! The original clump diameter. At its centre is the is still going strong, twenty style, which can be long (pin) years later. or short (thrum). Species have Pulmonarias are native to both pin and thrum flowers Fig. 3b P. longifolia subsp. Europe and in the wild favour on the same plant cevennensis 21 but hybrids have one kind flowers with a pale pink ring only and this is important in at the top of the tube but identification. Flowers open it is rarely grown now in succession over several because ‘Sissinghurst White’ ©Margaret ©Margaret Stone weeks, each flower lasting became more fashionable. 3 to 5 days. Species will P. o. ‘Blue Mist’ (syn. hybridise freely and seedlings ‘Blue Moon’) came from of named varieties should Amy Doncaster and has never be given the name of pale-blue pin flowers; it Fig. 4 P. rubra ‘Rachel Vernie’ their parent. practically covers itself with Fifteen to twenty years bloom and was awarded an ago, numerous new cultivars AGM in a 1998 RHS trial, were being introduced, although it no longer holds some of them very similar to it. ‘Cambridge Blue’ (fig. ©Margaret ©Margaret Stone existing plants and inevitably 1) was also named by Mrs no longer available. For Doncaster but there are example, good varieties were now many different plants bred by Dan Heims at Terra circulating under that name, Nova Nurseries, Oregon, most inferior to the original. Fig. 5 P. rubra ‘Redstart’ founded in 1992; by 2004 Mine came from Jaime Blake they had introduced 27 and had been growing at cultivars but now they sell Bressingham Gardens for only six. many years so should be The following correct. ©Adrian ©Adrian James pulmonarias can be Pulmonaria longifolia recommended, although (fig. 2), of which the most there are many other good widely cultivated subspecies plants; however, you may is P. l. subsp. longifolia, find it difficult to source has narrow, bristly, brightly Fig. 6 P. saccharata ‘Dora Bielefeld’ some of them. Species and spotted leaves and clusters their cultivars are listed first, of small rich-blue flowers. followed by hybrids. The basal leaves are up to Pulmonaria officinalis six times as long as they are buds are pink but the flowers wide, narrowing gradually may open blue, white or to a fine tip; the base colour pink, the last changing to is dark green, on which the blue. Thus it is usual to have bright silvery-white spots and ©HPS Library/Jennifer Harmer ©HPS Library/Jennifer Harmer pink and blue flowers open blotches show up well. simultaneously, giving the P. l. ‘Howard Eggins’, a Fig. 7 P. saccharata ‘Leopard’ common-name ‘Soldiers and seedling in the garden of Sailors’ (after the colours HPS member Linda Eggins at of their uniforms). It has Clent, Worcestershire, is very rounded leaves with distinct similar. P. l. subsp. cevennensis pale green or whitish spots. (fig. 3a&b) has heavily The flowering stems carry spotted leaves, up to 55cm spotted leaves and are long, or leaves which are 15–25cm tall with clusters of almost entirely covered in ©HPS Library/Jennifer Harmer ©HPS Library/Jennifer Harmer pink and mid-blue flowers. pale, silvery green with only Fig. 8 P. ‘Pink Haze’ P. o. ‘Alba’ has white thrum a narrow, dark-green margin. 22 It has slightly darker violet- blue flowers and is tolerant of drier and sunnier conditions than other pulmonarias. P. l. ‘Ankum’ is a seedling selected by Coen Jansen of Holland; its leaves are almost Witton ©HPS Library /Don entirely silvery green, spotted along the margins only, and its flowers bright blue. P. rubra is usually the earliest to bloom, sometimes starting in November. The pinkish-red flowers are relatively large and do not turn violet or blue; their calyces are pale green, flushed with red. The large leaves, up to 33cm long, are a bright Fig. 9 P. ‘Blue Ensign’ light green, unspotted and roughly hairy. P. rubra is particularly effective under deciduous shrubs where it has light in winter, which ©Adrian James encourages early flowering, but is shaded in summer. P. r. var. albocorollata (syn. ‘Alba’) has small, white thrum ©HPS Library/Vivienne McGhee flowers in green calyces on Fig. 10 P. ‘Lewis Palmer’ Fig. 11 P. ‘Benediction’ shorter stems. P. r. ‘Bowles’s Red’ has sparsely spotted leaves and the thrum flowers are a little more orange ©Adrian James ©Adrian than P. rubra itself. ©Adrian James P. r. ‘David Ward’ is distinct because it has variegated leaves. It is named after the propagation manager at Beth Chatto’s nursery, who found Fig. 12 P. ‘Trevi Fountain’ Fig. 13 P. ‘Weetwood Blue’ it as a sport in the garden there. The leaves are very soil in full shade, or at least a The bright-green leaves are light green overlaid with pale place where it gets summer almost entirely overlain with cream, giving a greyish effect, sun in the early mornings grey-green and have splashes with irregular cream margins. or late evenings only, as the of cream but they do not The thrum flowers, in very cream edges burn easily. burn easily; the pin flowers pale green calyces flushed P. r. ‘Rachel Vernie’ (fig. 4) are redder than the species with pink, are pale coral. It was a seedling found by with greenish-cream calyces. is most attractive, lighting up Jennifer Hewitt in 1994 and It throws an occasional sport shady places. It needs moist named after her daughter. with large white patches on 23 a thinner layer so the whole leaf looks pale silvery-green. The flowers are red to dark ©Adrian ©Adrian James violet. P. s. ‘Dora Bielefeld’ (fig. 6) is short (15–20cm) with clear-pink pin flowers which gradually change to violet. The leaves are light green with small pale-green spots. P. s. ‘Leopard’ (fig. 7), raised by Graham Stuart Thomas, has darker green leaves than other cultivars, so the bright whitish spots stand out boldly. The pin flowers are reddish-pink on upright stems. P. ’Pink Haze’ (fig. 8) (thought to be a saccharata seedling) is distinctive with its large pink pin flowers. P. ‘Blue Ensign’AGM (fig. 9) Fig. 14 P. ‘Little Star’ was raised by Monksilver Nursery and first awarded an AGM at the RHS Trial in 1998. It is free flowering with rich blue-violet pin flowers ©Adrian ©Adrian James ©Margaret ©Margaret Stone on fairly upright stems, up to 30 cm tall. The narrow basal leaves are dark green, unspotted and not very bristly, and die back in Fig. 15 P. ‘Darkling Thrush’ Fig. 16 P. ‘Diana Clare’ winter. It was originally described as a form of P. angustifolia but may be a hybrid. P. ‘Mawson’s Blue’AGM ©Adrian ©Adrian James has similar unspotted ©Margaret ©Margaret Stone angustifolia-type growth but with royal-blue thrum flowers. This seedling was selected in the 1930s at Fig. 17 P. ‘Blake’s Silver’ Fig. 18 P. ‘Cotton Cool’ Mawson Brothers’ Nursery in Cumbria but there are now the leaves and can also revert P. saccharata Argentea probably several plants in to plain green. P. r. ‘Redstart’ GroupAGM, in the best circulation with this name. (fig. 5) is usually vigorous and forms, has leaves completely It has naturalised in Surrey often earlier to flower; the covered with a thick silvery- and central and southern stems tend to be more upright white layer except for a Scotland. and the pin flowers are a little narrow green rim which may P. ‘Lewis Palmer’AGM larger than in the species. have small spots. Others have (fig. 10) is justifiably popular, 24 making a bold clump; it first originated with the famous gained an AGM in 1993. gardener but currently The dark green leaves are several different plants are long and fairly narrow, with incorrectly labelled with her ©Adrian James conspicuous large spots.