Red lungwort
Pulmonaria rubra ·
The earliest lungwort: coral-red flowers from late winter, with soft, plain, light green leaves. It spreads into a weed-proof carpet.
- Size
- 14 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade to shade
- Flowers
- Mid March to late April
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around red lungwort
The planner designed this bed around red lungwort when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part shade. It chose the other plants from the 513 that suit those conditions, and says below why red lungwort stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Red lungwort × 3, red
- 2 Bleeding heart 'King of Hearts' × 5, pink
- 3 Blue star creeper × 15, blue
- 4 Blue wood aster × 3, lavender
- 5 Log fern × 3, dark green leaves
- 6 Bleeding heart 'Gold Heart' × 1, pink
- 7 Giant snowdrop × 12, white
- 8 Snowdrop × 12, white
Why this plant
- The only dense clusters. The others are bells and daisies. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- A classic partner for snowdrop. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- The only red. The one hot colour: every other flower here is cool or neutral.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
- Beside snowdrop. A recognised partner: the planner puts such plants together where it can.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From mid March to late April.
- Fills a gap. For four of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Blue star creeper is planted in four places along the bed, which gives it rhythm. Red lungwort stands beside snowdrop, a proven pairing.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where red lungwort goes in a border
At 14 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
Coral red is a rare colour in March, and it stays the same colour instead of turning blue. Plant it where winter-flowering shrubs and hellebores are.
- Very early flowers in shade
- Groundcover under shrubs
- With snowdrops and hellebores
What to plant with red lungwort
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Snowdrop: in flower together for three weeks, from mid March; low enough (6 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Lenten rose: in flower together for six weeks, from late March; bold leaves against its medium ones.
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about red lungwort
Does red lungwort need sun or shade?
Red lungwort grows in part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning) and shade (less than 2 hours of direct sun, or bright dappled light).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does red lungwort grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does red lungwort flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid March to late April. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 4 | Late March to early May |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid March to late April |
| Zone 6 | Early March to mid April |
| Zone 7 | Early March to mid April |
| Zone 8 | Late February to early April |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should red lungwort be planted?
18 in (45 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 14 in (35 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many red lungwort plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is there a native plant like red lungwort?
Red lungwort is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Western bleeding heart: the same job in a bed and the same size; flowers early May to late June, pink, not red.
- Foamflower: the same job in a bed; 4 in shorter, 6 in narrower.
- Allegheny spurge: the same job in a bed; 4 in shorter, 6 in narrower.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after red lungwort?
Red lungwort is over by late April. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lily of the valley: from early May to late May, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Sweet woodruff: from early May to early June, 8 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Bugleweed: from early May to late May, 6 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does red lungwort look like in winter?
Red lungwort holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Pulmonaria
- Lungwort Pulmonaria saccharata
- Lungwort 'Diana Clare' Pulmonaria 'Diana Clare'
- Lungwort 'Raspberry Splash' Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash'
- Lungwort 'Trevi Fountain' Pulmonaria 'Trevi Fountain'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 14 in (35 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Mid March to late April; dense clusters; red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Mounding, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Part shade, shade
- Soil
- Rich, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.