My choice for April's Plant of the Month is Pulmonaria x 'Trevi Fountain'. There can be no other stunner that is used very little in the garden.
I happened upon it about five years ago when I mail ordered three of these lovely plants. I am not sure what happened to the other two because I now only have one, but the one is about two feet wide by two feet. That is a presence. It is a low grower and likes a moist, acidic and somewhat cool soil.
I planted all three under a crabapple tree (Prairiefire) in a low area on the north side of my garden. While the spot is protected, somewhat shaded, and gets some water from runoff, the spot is also prone to sun. This plant went semi-dormant last summer. Lucky it, sometimes I wish I could've with all the heat and drought. As you can see, it has bounced back wonderfully.
Pulmonaria's common name is Lungwort. I believe this comes from the latin prefix name of 'pulmon', which has something to do with lungs and breathing. I hope you can see the speckled leaves but in addition to having about three colors of flowers (pink, purple, and blue), it also has a soft gray green leave with gray spots.
I have had difficulty dividing and won't even attempt to do so anymore. Many visitors would love some-can't share it though. I need to get better at propagating like Dave over at The Home Garden.
This plant will bloom for a month or so and the foliage looks good about nine or ten months out of the year. There is no fragrance to the flowers, but it is still my choice for Plant of the Month.
in the garden....mulching of course! I have some much needed paper bags and newspapers...now to go get the pine needles from my neighbor.
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ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteah there's the rub: acidic, moist and somewhat cool. I planted this lovely
several years ago...there is now one leaf! He wants to live, I must find a better place for him/her
Gail
I do like this plant
Tina, he is lovely. I have Diane Clare, more solid silvery leaves than the usual spotted. I used to have the spotted one, but it has disappeared. There do seem to be a few seedlings though. Maybe you can develop that avenue to share. I would not divide it, either.
ReplyDeleteFrances
Tina, this is a very pretty plant!!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear common names. I'm close-up to my computer, squinting to see if this flower has some long, closed in neck. Resembling a lung. too cool, things in nature. Same color as wild ginseng, only that DOES look like several lungs!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty flower.
Dawn, do you have ginseng up there? I thought it was mostly in Smokey Mtns. I know it's against the law to dig it in Mtns. I had some plants in woods down hill from house in N.C. I did press the leaves of one of those plants. Did you know the root is not big enough till it has the 5 leaves & it will have berries at that stage. Strange looking but pretty. I loved to walk around looking for things like that. And Branch Lettuce. It's good.
ReplyDeleteHi Nina, Frances & Gail. I hope you all had a beautiful day.
Lost all of my comment AGAIN! I am beginning to think my cable carrier is overloaded. I have also been losing my internet phone all day today.
ReplyDeletegail-i think you should move him.
frances-your diane clare sounds nice. i like these pulmonarias.
hi nina! hope your day in the garden was awesome.
dawn, what is wild ginseng?
lola, ditto-wild ginseng?
anonymous, i know you check in each night before you hit the sack-which is where i am headed. just wanted to say g'night all!
ReplyDeletei did email skeeter, with no response so far. i have no idea how to reach her and feel certain she will contact us as soon as she is able but it has been a long time. will let you know as soon as i hear.
Hi --busy day today. Got three more yards of mulch to spread, lots of homework to check, studying with two kiddos, piano today, library and regular house stuff:) It is feeling like Spring!!! More time outdoors than in:0) See you all tomorrow --might rain:( I really should smile but I want to finish up my pile of mulch. Tina you would be happy --I have the back just about finished and haven't even touched the front yet. I can look out my window and see the pretty back:)
ReplyDeletePretty plant Tina.
ReplyDeleteEveryone sounds busy today and got lots done.... reading it all is making me tired, so maybe I should just go to bed.
Skeeter had her surgery over 8 days ago and we just have to have faith that things are okay with her. Maybe the Saint had a surprise of a get a way vacation for her!
Am I wrong or did I read in the comments that they were taking a trip to Arkansas or Texas or something? I guess I'm dreaming. Anyone? Would like to know.
ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteDid the thunderboomers wake you this morning...it felt like the storm was right over the house...shake rattle and roll!
Gail
Yep, we have wild ginseng up here, wish I knew how to process it. There is alot on the powerlines near my house, the ground has high spots and low spots so it grows all sorts of things. The atvs tend to have fun running over everything each summer. Somewhere we have St. Johns wort. When I broke my leg a friend of the family gave me a oil rub of it. It really works.
ReplyDeleteLola, there must of been elderberry in NY, it's alot warmer over there than here, grows almost anywhere and hard for me to find when it's flowering but easy with the berries.
Worked on the water yesterday and again today, hopefully they will remember to turn the boiler back on as they forgot yesterday. Double yikes! One side of the house was 64. Bring on SPRING!
good morning,
ReplyDeleteanonymous, i bet your yard is SO lovely! good job!
mom, i don't know about skeeter but i don't remember a trip. then again-my memory is not what it used to be. hope you got some rest.
lola, i guess all we can do is wait and hope we hear from her soon! i may try to see if i have her parents info. they do live in town. i don't think i have it though.
gail, 3:00 am the rain woke me up. i didn't hear any thunder though. we sleep upstairs in an cape cod style house. the rain sounds a bit like it does on a trailer roof because the roof is low. lol not as strong sounding but strong enough. you know how everyone is switching to metal roofs? i would love it as i love the sound-hubby says not in a million years-reminds him too much of trailers. he hates it but we deal with our little rain. rain is good but it is a bummer to get woken up. i always worry about trees falling over.
dawn, you house sounds warm compared to mine! i leave my upstairs rather cold. usually around 64. i shiver all the time and i hate it but it is so expensive to heat it lately. electricity keeps going up. i hope yours is energy efficient, i imagine it would be with jack of trades installing it. get that burner on and bring on the heat! and water!
don't know what wild ginseng is. will look it up. i love st. johns wort. i can't get it to grow here though due to no sun. but there is a creeping type-that is what you have?
No, we have the tall type, my mother in law showed it to me once, years and years ago. She pointed out Jack in the pulpit too. It likes it real wet though.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised the temp didn't drop lower considering it was windy last night. The boiler has a plug in the domestic water coil. The previous owner didn't want it and told us to take it for the office radiant. Friend of ours. It works for just the heat but it is being changed out and the new one is sitting in the garage. It is rated energy efficient, ME is changing lp to 91% from 80%. The new one sat in the suppliers for 5 years and I won't tell you what we got it for, it would scare you. They wanted it for a song and a dance, Jack of all trades told them he couldn't do either but I'd clicked my feet and cleared my throat real FAST.
Everyone up here wants metal roofs because the snow just slide off, they come with a 50 year warrantee. Lots of bucks though. Our mobile has a shingled roof but we could hear the rain on the bathroom vents.
I'm with you, wake up when it's windy because I'm afraid of the massive trees falling. Come morning I'm alway talking about chopping them down.
Dawn, You haven't cleared the trees yet though have you? lol
ReplyDeleteDad says metal roofs are cheaper than shingled roofs because they last forever! He was telling me all about it on our last call. I could see the snow sliding off-right into the foundation plantings.
hope you get your heat and water situation worked out soon. i do love the house and can't wait to see it in person. mom, have you seen it complete yet?
Ginseng can be used for different things. A tea can be made from it. It is said that drinking the tea helps the memory. The men drink it to help their virility. As 1 old gentleman, from China or thereabouts, said it helps keep making babies. The last account I had it was somewhere around 250.00 a lb. dried out. The roots, most of the time, looks like an old man. It is against the law to dig it in THE SMOKEY MTNS.
ReplyDeleteThey are going crazy around here for the metal roofs too. One man in G'ville brought up the question of it attracting lightening. One thing for sure you couldn't walk on it. With fireplaces it could help the cinders from landing on the roof & starting a fire.
Dawn, Where could I find that oil of St.Johns wort? Maybe in a health food store.!!!!!
lola, i had no idea about ginseng. might want to get into the business for the value. Asians eat it alot i guess.
ReplyDeleteno metal roofs for us. never. they are just a trend right now.
Yep, the Chinese worship it. But wild ginseng is worth more. Like the kind that grows in THE SMOKEY MTNS.
ReplyDeleteDawn check out your ginseng. Check the ones that have 5 stems with 5 leaves on them. Does it grow near or in a hardwood stand of trees?
I love pulmonaria! There are more and more varieties, lately, too! I have read they're not easily disturbed (or shared, as you've discovered!) :-)
ReplyDeleteShady gardener, I just noticed my 'Trevi Fountain' has made some babies! I am SO excited! Everyone loves this plant in my garden but I cannot divide it. I will get some of the other varieties soon. What varieties do you have?
ReplyDelete