Plant pulmonaria for easy colour in shady sites

With blooms spanning a range of blues, red, pinks and whites, these plants are a beacon of hope in spring

If winter feels like a slog and you long to see some beacons of hope, pulmonaria, or lungwort, can come to the rescue. Dainty, different and looking good for a long time, they’re in full flower when many herbaceous plants are still hiding underground and waiting for warmer weather! Early bees will be delighted to find these special flowers in the garden, and you’ll be delighted to see them!

■ Flower stems would traditionally be snipped into posies for Mother’s Day. No matter how early Easter was, there would always be a pulmonaria in flower then, often bunched up with early daffodils, for a pretty display that would look good in a slim vase for a week or so.

■ The good thing about these plants is they can just be left to get on with it, in conditions that other plants find tricky. They thrive in shade or part shade (shade from hot summer sun is a must) and grow very well in heavy soils. As long as the soil drains well enough so that rainwater doesn’t collect in puddles on the soil surface for any length of time, then they’ll be happy.

■ As well as the intricate trumpets of cheerful flowers, many varieties of pulmonaria are worth growing for their foliage alone, which becomes a real highlight in summer as the leaves mature. Spotty, variegated forms become a feature plant in their own right when the leaves are mature, with the large, patterned leaves adding welcome interest.

■ They also act as a beautiful background plant to fill the gaps between summer-flowering perennials. Be on hand to soak the plants if we have a very warm spell in summer. The plant will tell you if it’s struggling by its leaves starting to wilt, but don’t worry.

Soak the soil around the base of the plant and it will soon be as perky as a spring lamb again!

■ Pulmonaria look great when planted at the foot of rose bushes. They both like clay soil and the pulmonaria will be more than happy under the shade of the rose and cover bare soil and stems that can spoil the look of tall, established roses. Another cracking plant partner for pulmonarias is brunnera ‘Jack Frost’, which is another shade lover. Pair it with pulmonaria ‘Trevi Fountain’ and they’ll become ‘leaf partners’ in summer, weaving some wonderful patterns through the edge of a border with their matching silvery leaf markings.

■ As well as being good for edging paths and borders during the growing season (most of them die back or have tatty old leaves in autumn before returning into growth in spring) they’re the perfect ground cover plants for a woodland garden and good feature plants for a shaded nook or cranny on a rockery.

So read on for our pick of ones to try to give your garden an early lift...