Lungwort

Pulmonaria saccharata

Central European woodland perennial with rough silver-spotted oblong leaves and small clusters of flowers that open pink and age to blue, often with both colours on the same stem in mid-spring.

Hardiness ratings

Lungwort hardiness across the four zone systems
SystemRatingTemperature rangeHow to read it
USDA hardiness zone Zone 4–8 −34.4 °C to −6.7 °C Plant tolerates down to this zone
RHS hardiness rating H7 down to −20 °C Plant needs at least this level of cold tolerance
Canadian plant hardiness zone Zone 4–8 −29 °C to −1 °C Plant tolerates down to this zone
Australian (ANBG) zone Zone 1–5 −15 °C to 10 °C Plant tolerates down to this zone

Growing notes

  • Plant in dappled to deep shade as ground cover — spotted silver foliage provides interest from spring through autumn
  • Pink-and-blue mixed flowers in March–April are early bee forage
  • Common name from the spotted leaves (resembling diseased lungs in medieval doctrine of signatures) — the medicinal claim is now disregarded but the name persists
  • Powdery mildew is the main pest — cut affected leaves to ground in midsummer and they will re-flush

Categories

Related plants

Cross-check Lungwort against your zones

Reference

Lungwort on Wikipedia