It's March, April and May All At Once!

Mrs. Moon-March 2012

Roy Davidson-March 2012

Our crazy spring weather has got my garden all confuzzled.  May and April bloomers flowering alongside the March bloomers.  Only my oaks, hickories and japanese maples seem to be on their regular schedule.  One of the currently confused is Pulmonaria (Lungwort).

Pulmonaria isn't a plant I'd call pretty but it is distinctive.  I grow three cultivars: Mrs. Moon, Roy Davidson and Diane Claire.  Mrs. Moon has white-spotted foliage, pink buds and blue flowers.  Roy Davidson also has white-spotted foliage, pink buds and blue flowers but the flowers are paler in color.  Diane Claire has mottled silver foliage with bigger, brighter-colored flowers than the first two.  The flowers are magenta and purple. 

Diane Claire-March 2012

Diane Claire-June 2011

For spring, I like Roy Davidson the best of my pulmonarias; its small, pale blooms look at home in a naturalized setting.  Diane Claire is my least favorite in spring; I find its intense colors jarring next to more delicate natives.  However, once summer rolls around, Diane Claire really shines in the shade garden and looks wonderful with blue hostas.  I just need to find something to pair it with in the spring that looks good so I can enjoy this plant completely.

I find it strange but our native Virginia Bluebells bloom in similar colors as most Pulmonarias: pink buds and blue flowers. Quite unexpected since most other native Winsconsin spring ephemerals bloom white.

The nice thing about Pulmonarias is that they aren't ephemerals; they stick around throughout the growing season.  Once they are done blooming, their beautiful leaves elongate and the plants get a bit of size to them. They usually look pretty good through late fall.

Virginia Bluebells-a native ephemeral

Another nice thing about Pulmonarias is that they are supposed to be deer/rabbit resistant.  That was true for me until last fall when something seriously chowed on them, multiple times.  I'm probably the only gardener in the state who gets their Lungworts eaten by critters.