Heucheraholics - Heuchera, Heucherella, Tiarella specialists 'For the hopelessly addicted'

Heucheraholics share their New Forest base with our lovely, native Lungwort, Pulmonaria longifolia. If you are lucky you might find it growing in woodland margins, especially in the south of the New Forest. No prizes for guessing that the wild one has long leaves and as the doctrine of signatures alludes, spots on it's leaves that have a Pulmonary appearance.

Garden forms of Pulmonaria are more showy than our wild one, they have fatter leaves and are more floriferous. Breeders have blended a handful of Pulmonaria species together to produce some truly stunning and versatile plants. If you grow Heucheras then you really should try a few Pulmonarias, they look so good together.

Shady, woodland areas with moist fertile soil are ideal for Pulmonarias. Like so many woodlanders they are at their best in the Spring before the trees are fully leafed up. Pulmonarias have three major benefits, the foliage, the flowers and their value to pollinating insects....and they are very hardy too!

Pulmonaria foliage is generally bold, often spotty or variegated and pretty much pest resistant (unlike Hosta). The leaves have a tendency to be somewhat Summer dormant, meaning they are not at their best in the hot months, once August has passed new growth develops and looks stunning. They are mostly at least partially evergreen.

The flowers are delightful little frilly bells of pink, blue, purple, white and combinations of those colours. Several varieties have flowers that change colour as they age. These little tube like flowers produce nectar that is invaluable to the early spring insects, they are a magnet to Bees, Bumblebees, Butterflies and Bee-flies.

Pulmonarias are easy to care for in the garden, they'll go on for years once you have found a good site for them. It's simple to divide them or simply make an Irish cutting (one with a few roots) to increase your stock and to keep the plants fresh.

We will have Pulmonarias available in the late Spring early Summer, here are some of the varieties:

Bubble Gum
Cotton Cool
Dark Vader
High contrast
Majeste
Milky Way
Moonshine
Opal
Raspberry Splash
Silver Shimmers
Silver Bouquet
Trevi Fountains