Pulmonaria saccharata Silverado - Lungwort

The Pulmonaria saccharata 'Silverado' is an adorable variety of lungwort, both for its completely silver foliage and its spring flowering with pink buds opening into delicate bells, changing from pale pink to pale lilac in a beautiful gradient of colours. This variety stands out for its vigor, quickly forming an almost evergreen ground cover that is very hardy in moist soil, bringing a lot of whimsy to shaded areas of the garden. The flowering of this perennial often precedes that of primroses and violets!

The Pulmonaria saccharata, also known as Spotted Lungwort, is a fully hardy herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the same family as borage and brunnera, the Boraginaceae family. It is a botanical species native to semi-open wooded areas of Europe and Asia that has given rise to many cultivars with silver-speckled foliage, including the 'Silverado' variety.

The 'Silverado' variety is a recent variety, particularly vigorous, which also resists heat and powdery mildew quite well. This rhizomatous plant forms a fluffy mat that is 25-30 cm (10-12in) tall when in bloom and spreads laterally without theoretical limits. The leaves, gathered in a flat rosette, are very hairy and about 25 cm (10in) long. They are lanceolate, pointed at the top and rounded at the base, while those on the flower stems are alternate, elongated, and without petioles. Their colour is a fairly light grey-green, dotted with more or less large light spots, white-silver. In March-April, for several weeks, angular, branching stems covered in rough hairs emerge just above the foliage. They bear at their tips pendant clusters or cymes of tubular flowers that are 5 to 10 mm (<1in) wide, changing gradually from pale pink to pale lilac. As the flowers continually renew themselves, all these colours are present at the same time. This early flowering attracts the first bees, at a time of year when sources of nectar are still scarce. The creeping rhizome of lungworts produces new clusters of leaves after flowering, expanding the colony. The foliage persists all year round, even in winter if the frost is not too severe.

This lungwort, which is perennial and completely hardy, is primarily used as a ground cover in partially to fully shaded areas. In winter, in well-protected areas, its foliage often remains evergreen. It quickly adds a splash of colour to depleted soil under trees, bushes, along facades, or north or east-facing paths, at the base of sunless walls. This plant is a boon in cool climates, where few plants are willing to grow, such as Caucasian comfrey and large periwinkle. It nicely fills in shady flower beds and even manages to grow under conifers. Plant some spring bulbs that will bloom here and there with your lungwort. Also, consider mixing in late blooming ground covers, such as brunnera, Waldsteinia ternata, or perennial Geranium nodosum, to add variety to your flower bed.