Pulmonaria Blue Ensign
Most lungworts are grown for spotted leaves. 'Blue Ensign' is the exception, with plain, unmarked dark green foliage that sets off the flowers instead of competing with them, and those flowers are the deepest blue in the genus, close to sapphire and carried in nodding clusters on short stems. It is also one of the earliest to open, flowering from August into October.
Very little else is in flower that early, which is the reason to plant it. Use it along a shaded path, under deciduous trees where it gets late-winter light before the canopy closes, at the front of a woodland border, or in a courtyard bed that never sees full sun. Bumblebees find it almost as soon as it opens.
Grow in full or partial shade in moist, humus-rich soil with compost dug through and an annual mulch. This plant will not accept dry ground: it wilts quickly, and drying out is what brings on the mildew it is prone to. Space plants 30 cm apart. Lift and divide congested clumps after flowering.
Forms a clump around 0.3 m tall and 0.3 to 0.5 m across.
Trimming: Cut the old leaves and spent flower stems right down once flowering finishes. A fresh set of clean foliage follows within weeks and carries the plant through summer looking far better than the tired original leaves would.
Deadheading: Handled by the same job. Removing whole flowered stems rather than individual flowers is quicker and keeps the clump tidy.
Fertilising: Mulch with compost or leaf mould after the post-flowering cut back, and add a light slow-release fertiliser in spring on poor soil. Moisture matters more than feeding.
Watering: Keep the soil moist all through summer. A pulmonaria that dries out collapses dramatically, and although it usually recovers, the leaves are marked for the rest of the season.
Pest Control: Slugs and snails chew the new spring foliage. Otherwise it is largely left alone, and the bristly leaves deter most browsing.
Disease Management: Powdery mildew is the standing problem with lungworts and it follows dryness at the root more than humidity. Keep the soil damp, cut affected leaves off at the base, and divide congested clumps to let air through.
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