Lungwort: planting and care in the open field, description of varieties and cultivation with photos

Lungwort does not differ in large and bright colors, on the contrary, they are small. The peculiarity is that all the flowers are multi-colored: blue, lilac, crimson and pale pink. The eye is attracted by spotted leaves, collected in a chic bush. Lungwort is unpretentious in planting and care, grows well in open ground.

General description of the plant

Pulmonaria is the second name of the plant. Belongs to the Burachnikov family. The plant has a straight, downy stem, up to 30 centimeters in height. Leaf basal, long-leaved, velvety. It has an elliptical shape, with a pointed end.

Blooming starts as soon as the snow melts and continues until May. Inflorescence with small flowers, collected in a corymb and located at the top of the stem. Flowering is non-simultaneous. A young flower throws out a pink bud, then begins to darken, up to lilac. Because of this feature, it turns out that there are flowers of different colors in the inflorescence.

Bees love the lungwort, as this plant is a honey plant. Its young leaves are rich in potassium s alts, calcium, iron, nickel, they are added to the salad. Contains vitamin C, carotene and rutin. These elements will be preserved even when boiled, marinated and dried.

Interesting! In England, lungwort is grown in large quantities. Precisely because of its beneficial properties.

The appearance of the plant may vary slightly in different types of pulmonaria.

Types and varieties of lungwort

Breeders have turned a nondescript forest flower into an ornamental pet that many gardeners grow. There are 15 natural species and about 20 bred varieties.

The most decorative types include:

1. Rolled lungwort - rare. Effective and heat-loving look. It differs from all species in unusually large leaves. In early spring, their color is green, with silvery spots, and by summer the spots, merging, fill the entire leaf, and it becomes silvery. The Majesty variety is very similar in leaf color. Flowers bloom in early spring and are purplish red.
2. Red lungwort. Of the species is considered the earliest. The flowers are bright red. Differs in long flowering. Shrubs of small monophonic green leaves grow rapidly and form a dense cover.
3. Medicinal lungwort grows to a height of no more than 30 centimeters. Differs in high winter hardiness. Withstands frosts down to -35 ° C without damage to the root system. Flowering begins in the middle of May and lasts a month.The inflorescence changes color: from red shades at the beginning of flowering to purple at the very end.
4. The softest pulmonaria during growth forms dense and large bushes, no more than 50 centimeters high. Peduncles with large flowers of blue-violet color are formed already at the end of April. Lush green leaves form throughout the summer.
5. The long-leaved lungwort only grows up to 25 centimeters in height. It has a very spectacular coloring of the leaves. On the dark green base of the leaf are silvery blotches of various sizes. The underside is grey-green. The long-leaved species can be planted in a sunny spot. Rosebuds open in April. Over time, they change color to blue.
6. Lungwort obscure. Leaves are green. When flowering, the color of the flowers changes - from pale pink to dark lilac. This species prefers light and fertilized soils.
7. Sugar lungwort has a second name - spotted borage, sugar. It is considered ground cover and evergreen. Its leaves create a huge green carpet, and when spring comes, it turns purple.

In addition to plant species, there are popular garden varieties of this flower.

Hybrid variety Samurai. In height reaches 30 centimeters. It has a spreading crown with green foliage and an upright stem. Burgundy and purple flowers open in May and continue to bloom until June. Planted in partial shade and light areas.

Majestic variety is considered the most popular. You will not confuse it with other varieties. Its leaves are light green in spring, turning brighter in summer with a silvery sheen. Pink flowers later turn blue. It tolerates changing weather and wintering well.

Features of landing

In order for the plant to take root well and please every year with the first flowers, you need to take into account some features of planting.

Time and place of landing

Spring is the best time to plant a lungwort in a permanent place in open ground. The first days of April are the period when the earth is richest in nutrients. And this is important for good rooting and flower development.

Grows well, both in the shade and in partial shade. You can plant in a sunny place, but not in direct sunlight.

Preparing the soil for planting

Very fond of fertile soil and does not tolerate stagnant water. Choose a well-drained site. Before planting a lungwort in the ground, you need to prepare a place in advance. In a week, the earth needs to be dug up, all weeds removed and fertilized with humus.

Step by step instructions for planting

The technology of planting young seedlings is not complicated. Even a novice florist will master:

1. On a previously prepared site, you need to make holes for planting. They must be at a certain distance - 20-25 centimeters - from each other.
2. If the area is prone to moisture stagnation, then drainage should be placed at the bottom of the hole: coarse sand, expanded clay or small pebbles.
3. Seedlings are removed from the planting cups along with the ground, trying not to damage the plant. To do this, you first need to water, wait a bit. Turn the plant over in the palm of your hand, holding the stem between your fingers.
4. Put the flower in the hole, crush it with earth to the base and compact with your hands.
5. Pour the plant with clean water and sprinkle with sawdust.

At the right place, the plant will quickly take root and grow.

Important! Lungwort, when planting, does not need to be deeply buried in the ground.

Proper care

There are some important points in the care and cultivation of decorative lungwort that will not take much time.

Water and mulch

Irrigation is important for lungwort. It accepts abundant and regular moisture. But she also does not like excess moisture. Depending on the soil on which the plant grows, you need to choose the necessary mode for watering.

The best option is to carry out moistening when the top layer of soil under the bush begins to dry out. Lungwort prefers loose and light soils. Therefore, loosening the top layer is carried out regularly. This procedure provides oxygen access to the roots and improves the fluid permeability to them. To keep moisture under the bush as long as possible, the ground around it must be mulched with peat or sawdust.

Fertilizer

Needs to be fed during active leaf growth and bud formation. Fertilize mainly: mineral complex compositions and organic matter. They are distributed under the lungwort bush. Fertilizers can also be diluted in water. Take 20 grams of the mineral composition and dissolve in 10 liters of clean and warm water.

Should I prune the lungwort?

In the spring, old and dried leaves are cut off so that young shoots do not rot, and a well-groomed appearance is preserved. After flowering, flower stalks are cut off so that seeds do not scatter.

You can not cut the leaves of the plant in the fall, as they serve as a heater for the roots. All cuts on the plant must be made with a clean and well-sharpened tool.

Preparing for winter

As for the lungwort plant, preparing for winter will not require much trouble. The plant calmly tolerates this period, except for two types of plants: shaft-shaped and soft. In autumn they are covered with leaves, peat or grass. Other species are mulched with sawdust or peat.

Diseases and pests

The big plus of lungwort is its immunity to diseases. Pests also bypass this plant. An exception may be slugs and snails, which are attracted to dampness under the bush due to excessive watering.

To prevent the appearance of these pests, you need to remove weeds in time and not flood the plant.

Reproduction methods

There are several ways to propagate lungwort.

Dividing the plant. Using this method, the varietal characteristics of a perennial flower are preserved. In the spring, the bush needs to be dug up, the root cut into pieces. The resulting material is planted in holes at a distance of 30 centimeters from each other. You need to stick to the same depth at which the flower grew before the separation of the bush.

If in the spring it was not possible to divide the bush, in the fall it is also possible. After the faded flowers begin to fall off the plant, it's time. In this way, sugar and long-leaved pulmonaria are propagated.

Segments of roots. At the end of summer, they dig up a bush and cut off parts of the root from it, on which there is a kidney. Then they are planted in prepared pits to a depth of 4 centimeters. In this way, the shaft-shaped, medicinal and narrow-leaved species of lungwort are propagated. The distance between the pits should be more than 30 centimeters, as these species grow strongly.

Seeds. This method is rarely used. Only the softest lungwort grows well from seeds. Other species, with this method, lose the quality of the mother plant. Flowering begins only at the 2nd year.

Seeds quickly lose their viability, so you need to plant in the year of harvest.

Decorative properties

This primrose, due to the color of the leaves and early flowers, looks great in group plantings of early flowers in flower beds. Naturally, this shrub looks among conifers, forming a dense carpet around them.

The lungwort is planted along the edge of the curbs, it frames them aesthetically. It is indispensable both in alpine slides and in group plantings of summer flowers: phlox, astilba, daylilies. It looks very good in composition with hosta of various varieties.

Lungwort is a shade-tolerant flower. It will decorate a shady corner where other flowers do not grow. And in the spring it will delight with the first flowers. Her chic bush of bright leaves will be appropriate in any part of the garden.

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