Pulmonaria Opal

Pulmonaria Opal is a semievergreen perennial offering nearly year-round foliar interest. Aptly named, the plant is blanketed in opalescent blooms in spring. Small, funnel-shaped, and five-petaled, they open from pale pink buds and mature to clear blue flowers that appear almost white. Borne in forked clusters on sparsely leaved stems, the nectar- and pollen-rich flowers attract pollinators to the garden and add lovely bits of color to early season bouquets.

Pulmonaria Opal is a rhizomatous, herbaceous plant, also known as a lungwort, has a low, clumping, spreading habit and a fast growth rate. It slowly spreads by creeping roots but is not invasive. The mottled gray green foliage is attractively splashed and polka-dotted with silver. Best mass planted, it makes excellent groundcover, edging, and under planting and works well in shady beds and borders.

Low maintenance, Pulmonaria Opal prefers full to dappled shade and humusy, organically rich soil, but it tolerates a wide range of soils, including clay, loam, chalk, acid, alkaline, and neutral. The soil should be evenly moist but well-drained and should never be allowed to dry out. The plant may struggle or die in hot, dry locations, especially if given too much sun, as well as in wet, poorly drained areas. It is deer and black walnut resistant and heavy shade tolerant.