Hi, perennial people, (-:
Oops! I meant 'pulmonaria' (sp) in the title.
Perhaps someone could give me a little background on this little perennial?
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/search.html?mv_session_id=ogknzXGb&co=yes&ma=yes&mc=1&tf=name&to=f&rf=*&sp=results_pics&st=db&fi=products&mv_value=nametype%3Dscientific&ml=45&mv_value=srchtype%3Dkey&from_search=1&user_specified=1&sf=%3Acode%3Aname%3Acommon_name%3Ashort_desc%3Adescription1&se=pulmonaria&su=1&op=aq&sf=is_coupon&se=1&su=0&op=ne&sf=disc&se=0&su=0&op=gt&hide=1&submit.x=7&submit.y=5
I want to grow a blue/pinkish perennial that will bloom early in the spring and someone suggested pulmonaria.
Can anyone describe to me how they grow them successfully and if they need wet shade or will thrive under a deciduous tree that get dry underneath in summer?? And do they require a loamy kind of soil?
It looks like a very charming flower for springtime, doesn't it?
Thanks so much. t.
This message was edited Apr 11, 2010 6:28 PM
Who grows Polmonaria??
Mrs. Moon is growing under my very tall Norway spruce. It gets pretty dry in that area. Gets morning sun and good light the rest of the day. I just planted a different verity last year on the north side of the house get mor water there and they are doing very well. I think good drange is also important. It also reseeds but not to the point of being invasive.
I bought them from Bluestone.
I haven't grown Pulmonaria, but you might also want to think about Virginia Blue Bells (assuming that it's hardy in your area) - they start out pink and then go baby blue. The bigger diff is that they're ephemerals - the foliage dies back completely until the next spring.
Sorry, not the best picture - they're much prettier than this, really!
This message was edited Apr 11, 2010 8:19 PM
Pulmonaria grow(s) great for me in (dappled)shade or sun. When they get more sun they grow bigger faster. I've had them re seed and little baby's show up in unexpected spots in my gardens. They were a wonderful addition to my woodland gardens due to the blooms. Mine grow under both deciduous and pine trees. I also like the silvery foliage next to green hosta. Highly recommend them.
My pulmonarias do fine in typical woodland situation.
I haven't planted any for years, but they seem to gently reseed so I always have a few.
I think this is Mrs Moon, but not sure.
The flowers start blue and fade to pink (or the other way around?).
At any rate, you end up with both colors present on the same plant, which is pretty cool.
The foliage is nicely variegated. There are a bunch of cultivars w/ different foliage patterns.
I haven't had as much luck with the nearly pure silver leaved varieties.
I have a little in the shade garden.
Since the neighborhood deer don't eat it, I decided to give it a try.
I like it for the front of the garden. It is to the left of the hellbores.
Nice dreamy photo rileyobo.
My Pulmonaria bloomed really well this spring. The award for bluest flower this year goes to 'Little Star'. Absolutely gorgeous and very floriferous. I've found that they do need some half-way decent soil after rescuing some form dry clumpy clay. Does anyone have a problem for them "melting down" during the hotter summer months?
Rileyobo, what a beautiful photo!
That is a lovely photo, Rileyobo. Pulmonaria is definitely on my wish list. Just ordered a bunch from Bluestone and reached my limit before I got to the "P's." LOL The Mrs. Moon also caught my eye. I love variegated foliage. Especially the silvery colors.
Here's a picture of the Pulmonaria David Ward
Pulmonaria angustifolia
Pulmonaria officinalis
All do best in shade or only with morning sun
I think I'm growing these, but the leaves on mine are almost solid silver with just a few speckles of green here and there. They do have the pink/blue flowers. I wonder which variety I have. They had no plant tag with them.
The Pulmonaria officinalis can vary in the leaves from just a few silver to a lot of silver. Usually they have pink/blue flowers, but it might happen you get white flowers.
If anyone is interested: I'll have fresh seeds of all 3 species in a month or so. I would love to trade for other seeds.
The one at this link looks a lot like mine...
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://northernshade.ca/wp-content/images/pulmonaria-samourai-flowers-may-26.jpg&imgrefurl=http://northernshade.ca/2009/05/30/pulmonaria-samourai-with-true-blue-flowers/&usg=__dRFqMu-vzl5tE1LZKoV-NRrKdsc=&h=600&w=800&sz=195&hl=en&start=13&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Po2MUYULW0RtkM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpulmonaria%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26tbs%3Disch:1
Does it come true from seed?
I don't know if the one I have comes from seeds or not. I bought 2 of them last week locally on sale. I'm going back today and I'll ask which variety it is for sure. I really like these. I have them close to my Brunneras.
Wow - I've never thought of starting Pulmonaria from seed even though I've had a few self-sown seedlings the past couple of years. Guess I wasn't as thorough dead-heading as I thought. 'Little Star' is cute as it has little dots of silver and not big splashes although I do like those big splashes as well.
I contacted the local nursery and the name of my plants is Longifolia "Diana Clare". I really like it. I'll post a photo I took of them today.
I love pulmonaria too. It's so cool that it blooms in March when most of my garden is still sleeping. Here are 'Trevi Fountain' and 'raspberry' from about a month ago. They were planted last fall. I also have another I can't remember the name of and I just planted 'smokey blue' - guess I'm addicted :).
Here's my other one back in March (now I gotta dig around & see if I can find the tag).
Love the photos! And thank you for all the growing details. I have found a couple of pretty good spots that I think they will like. And thanks to a generous DGer I've got some starts and I'm looking forward to a pretty woodland garden next March!
But where is everyone buying them? Are they readily available at local garden centers? For some reason I must have pretty much overlooked them in the past, as I don't recall so many varieties locally.
And I wonder how these would grow as cuttings?? Seems like now would be a good time to start them. Does anyone have experience doing this with them?
Again thanks for all the tips. t.
Tabasco, it's an early bloomer, so it might be not in the nursery anymore. In that case you'll have to wait until autumn.
I grew them from seed (except the David Ward).
Wow! Everyone has different experiences with their pulmonarias. Mine absolutely hate the sun and I over water and they love it...lol.
I have been growing them for years. I only have 2 types. Victorian Brooch and May Bouquet. The Victorian Brooch have one of the largest flowers I have seen on a pulmonaria. Also it blooms 3 different colors on one plant. As with the May Bouquet they all start off blue and then fade to shades of Pinks.
I haven't grown them from seed that I know of, but I take pieces of leaves and make new plants. So I guess they root to a certain degree...because these leaves have a little bit of root and I stick them in pots and make new plants.
Thanks again for the additional comments.
Kim, so interesting to find out you can grow them from leaf cuttings. Seems like an easy way to go about it.
I googled this little piece about pulmonaria propagation:
"Polar Splash’ (Pulmonaria) is most commonly propagated by tip cuttings. Cuttings can be successfully rooted by sticking them directly into a well-drained growing medium. Many growers dip the unrooted cuttings into a rooting hormone, such as a solution of indolebutyric acid (IBA), at rates between 500 and 1,000 ppm. The rooting compound is not essential for successful rooting, but it tends to provide a slightly higher rooting percentage and also reduces the rooting time. Cuttings should be placed under low misting regimes for approximately the first week of propagation."
These directions are an excerpt from this Pulmonaria growers' site: http://www.gpnmag.com/PulmonariaPolar-Splash-article5829
And FYI another link to excerpts from a whole book about pulmonaria and borage and how to take cuttings in detail (very good):
http://books.google.com/books?id=bMUABcfWFNgC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=pulmonaria+cuttings&source=bl&ots=WE7awKBSFJ&sig=F27tJz95M8mK-GE0fb_j2HV2mTQ&hl=en&ei=aq8CTOznEsL48Abun7nfDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=pulmonaria%20cuttings&f=false
I could really get into these pretty early spring bloomers...!