Ornamental · Boraginaceae
Lungwort
Pulmonaria saccharata
Give it cool shade and steady moisture, and lungwort lights up the dim corners with early spotted leaves and pink-to-blue flowers.
Partial shade
Every 7 days
USDA 3–9
10–18 in · 25–46 cm
Overview
Lungwort is a low, clumping perennial grown for two things at once: its silver-spotted leaves and its early flowers that open pink and turn blue on the same stem. It belongs to the borage family and earned its odd name from old herbalists, who thought the speckled leaves looked like diseased lungs. The spots are just part of the foliage, but the name stuck.
This is a true shade plant. It comes alive in the dim spots under trees and along the north side of a wall, where most flowers sulk, and it blooms in late winter to spring while the rest of the garden is still waking up. The flowers feed early bees, and the marked leaves carry the show long after the blooms fade.
Lungwort asks for very little once it settles in. Keep the soil cool and evenly moist in real shade and it spreads into a slow, tidy ground cover. The one thing it won't forgive is hot, dry sun, which scorches the leaves and sends the plant into a sulky dormancy.
Care
The short version: plant lungwort in part to full shade, keep the soil cool, rich, and evenly moist, feed it lightly each season, and divide the clumps in fall once they crowd.
Light
Lungwort wants part to full shade, the deep, cool kind found under trees or on a building's north side. It tolerates full shade and still flowers, but real sun scorches the leaves and pushes the plant into early dormancy.
Water
Keep the soil cool and evenly moist but never waterlogged, watering about once a week through dry spells. Don't let it dry out, or the leaves wilt and the plant goes dormant to protect itself.
Soil
Give it cool, humus-rich ground that holds moisture yet still drains. Work in plenty of compost or leaf mold, which is exactly the kind of soil it finds on a woodland floor.
Humidity
Average
Feeding
A slow-release all-purpose fertilizer once a season is all it needs. Apply it during the growing season and let the rich, organic soil carry the rest.
Pruning
Pull off the older, tattered, or mildewed leaves as they appear through the year. Cutting the foliage back after the flowers fade brings in a fresh, clean flush of leaves for summer.
Size & spacing
Plants stay low at 10 to 18 inches (25 to 46 cm) tall and spread wider than they are high, reaching 18 to 24 inches (46 to 61 cm) across. Give each one that much room and it knits into a slow ground cover.
When to plant
Lungwort runs on the cool end of the year. Set new plants out in spring or fall into a shaded bed, and the flowers open in late winter to spring, pink at first and ripening to blue, well before most perennials stir.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Seldom grown from seed; if used, sow seed in early spring.
- Plant: Spring or fall in a shaded site.
- Harvest: Blooms late winter to spring (April to May), flowers opening pink and maturing to blue.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
Temperature: down to -40°C
Troubleshooting
Lungwort stays healthy in the right spot, so most trouble traces straight back to too much sun or the wrong soil moisture. Read the leaves and crown for the early signs below. Fix the site and the plant usually rights itself.
Crown and roots turning soft as the plant collapses
Crown and root rot sets in when the soil stays wet and can't drain, and the roots go dark and mushy. Work organic matter in to open the ground up and keep the plant off any spot where water pools. Lift the healthy crowns, split them, and replant them in soil that drains.
Fix:
- Improve drainage with organic matter
- Avoid waterlogged sites
- Divide and replant healthy crowns in well-drained soil
Leaves browning at the edges and wilting in the heat
This is leaf scorch from too much sun and dry soil, and the foliage often flops in the midday heat. Move the plant into part to full shade, keep the soil evenly moist, and lay down mulch to hold water and cool the roots. Lungwort is a shade plant at heart, so the right spot solves most of it.
Fix:
- Move or transplant to part to full shade
- Water to keep soil evenly moist
- Mulch to keep roots cool and reduce moisture loss
Dusty white film spreading across the leaves
This is powdery mildew, and it takes hold when the soil runs dry and air sits still around the crowded leaves. Strip off the worst leaves, open the planting up so air can move, and keep the soil evenly moist. Cutting the clump back hard brings in clean new growth.
Fix:
- Remove and discard affected leaves
- Improve air circulation and keep soil evenly moist
- Cut back foliage to promote clean new growth
Ragged holes chewed through the leaves
Slugs and snails chew these holes overnight and leave shiny slime trails behind, worst after wet weather. Go out at dusk and pick them off by hand, and clear away the leaf litter where they hide during the day. A bait or a barrier helps when the damage keeps coming.
Fix:
- Hand-pick slugs in the evening
- Remove leaf litter and debris that shelter them
- Use slug baits or barriers if damage is heavy
Toxicity
Good news for pet owners and parents: lungwort is not toxic. The ASPCA does not list Pulmonaria as poisonous to cats or dogs, and there are no reports of harm to other animals or people. A curious nibble is nothing to worry about.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
Lungwort is safe around cats, with no toxic compounds to worry about if one nibbles a leaf.
Dogs None
Dogs can brush past or chew the foliage without harm. The ASPCA does not list it as poisonous.
Horses Safe
No risk to horses. The plant carries nothing that would trouble a grazing animal this size.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits can pass through a planting safely, though lungwort's fuzzy leaves tend to put them off anyway.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep are fine near it, with no reports of poisoning from the foliage.
Birds Safe
Backyard birds face no danger from the leaves or flowers.
People Safe
Handling and growing lungwort poses no poisoning risk to people, including children in the garden.
Varieties
Lungwort is grown as much for its leaves as its flowers, and the named cultivars below sort out mainly by how silvered the foliage is and what color the blooms turn.
Mrs. Moon
A classic cultivar with heavily silver-spotted leaves and pink buds that open to soft blue flowers.
Raspberry Splash
An upright grower with silver-spotted leaves and flowers in raspberry-pink to violet.
Spot On
A vigorous silver-spotted selection that carries coral-pink blooms aging to blue.
How to propagate
Lungwort multiplies easily, and dividing a settled clump is far more reliable than starting from seed.
DivisionEasy
Fall, when clumps become overcrowded · One growing season
Division is the easy, reliable way to make more lungwort. Lift the clump in fall once it has grown crowded, split the crown into pieces, and trim off the older leaves as you replant. Each division settles in over a single growing season.
SeedModerate
Early spring · Seedlings reach blooming size in about a year
Seed is the slower route and the named cultivars won't come true from it, so the seedlings rarely match the parent. Sow in early spring if you want to try, and expect the young plants to reach blooming size in about a year.
Myths
The spotted leaves mean lungwort cures lung disease.
The old doctrine of signatures read the leaf spots as a sign the plant heals the lungs, but the spots are just a natural foliage pattern. The name and the herbal lore come from that resemblance, not from any proven effect on the lungs.
Lungwort spreads fast and turns invasive.
It creeps along slowly by its roots and never runs wild the way invasive plants do. If a clump gets too wide, you simply dig it up and divide it.