I tried several silver leafed Pulmonarias, Silverado and a couple of others, but not any on your list, I think. They all dwindled away until I discovered Diana Clare, a terrific plant, vigorous and very handsome. I don't remember broadening spots, but it's a great plant.

I also kept David Ward a couple of years, and I loved it, but it was a very weak grower and eventually disappeared.

I grew 'Samaurai' in a previous garden for several years and was very impressed.

I grew a couple different cultivars but don't recall the names. Note the past tense...

Were a mildewy mess for me.

Thanks for the info guys.

I really like the looks of the one CPG mentioned he had luck with, so may have to pick that one up and see how it does here.

-mxk3, I have had the same mildew troubles with the regular Pulmonaria, as well as rotting out. Finally found a couple areas in my garden where they seem to do okay. Good drainage, soil that doesn't dry completely out, and being in a very shady spot seem to be their fav. Oh wait, did I just jinx this?! Probably out there rotting away now as we speak, LOL.
CMK

Hey Christin, I love 'Majeste'. Picked one up a few years ago and have added a couple more since. It stays nice and silver and I have never had any mildew on them. I have them in quite a shady area with late afternoon sun.

The only one on your list that I've grown is Majeste, and it grows as well as any of my other pulmonaria. I had David Ward, too, and it was ugly and awful. I was glad when it finally died.

FWIW, if I recall correctly, 'Samourai' is a cross between 'Majeste' and P. longifolia var. cevenennsis.

Ah! Thanks for the info. Think I will try to find either 'Majeste' or 'Samourai' next year.

-ontnative, glad to hear of another David Ward hater, lol! That thing was such a dud!
CMK

David Ward is not very vigorous for me. But Diana Clare, Majeste, and Samourai are stellar performers. They are vigorous and beautiful in all seasons and just get better every year.

Christin, I've never divided my pulmonarias before, but if the 'Majeste' come up well next year (as I expect they will) I'll divide (I assume they're easily dividable?) and send it to you!

Thanks Susan!! I would love a little start of your Majeste! I've divided some pulmonaria and it is easy- sometimes even helps rejuvenate the older patches that are starting to fade out.
CMK

I've had interesting experiences with pulmonarias...I first tried growing them in nice, consistently moist, high organic content soils in southwest Ohio in almost full shade and they always rotted out.

Move to Omaha, Nebraska...hot, dry summers, cold winters...constant wind....and I have four pulmonarias growing under the shade of some white pine trees, all thriving. I grow 'Raspberry Splash,' 'Roy Davidson,' 'Mrs. Moon,' and 'Samurai.'

Since silver-leaved ones are the topic of this post, I'll focus on it - I've had mine for 3 summers and it has thrived and shown more resilience to powdery mildew than the other three cultivars - even my Roy Davidson. Its growth is faster than Moon and Splash, but not as much as Davidson. The grasshoppers seemed to bother it less than the others as well...personally I love it and when I move I will be sure to reserve more spots in my next garden for Samurai. On another note, I have grown Mrs. Moon a couple of times and have been sorely disappointed each time...

~Mike

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I love pulmonarias in general. I've grown majeste and I think cotton cool, and they've both done fine for me. I think majeste has been more vigorous. I don't seem to have a huge amount of mildew problems. My soil is on the dry, sandy side. As long as I give supplemental water, they seem to do well. They seem more drought-tolerant than a lot of plants, but not bullet-proof either. Sometimes they wilt. If I see it, I water, and they perk back up. They didn't do well at my old house, and I don't know if it's because I was being more generous with the water or because they don't like black walnut trees. But either way, I suspect they like it just a little dry.

Dirtdiver - you might be right about that. I have pretty good soil here (good bit of organic matter), and I don't give my pulmonarias any supplemental watering, even in summer, and they don't wilt. They are sited in a spot that does get downright boggy in the spring and during periods of prolonged rainfall, the result of which can lead to saturated soils for weeks even.

Lovely pic Mike, thanks for showing!

Your experiences are very interesting. I've put Pulmonaria in some dry spots (one in sandy soil under an apple tree and a few under honeysuckle shrubs and maples) and they always managed to wilt terribly and mildew by summer. But that's not saying much, since a lot of things seem to mildew here by summer, LOL!
CMK

They wilt and mildew for me here on the rainy side of the mountains too. I still have them for their early color though.

I've had majeste for years and it's fantastic. Tough, reliable, always silver. I've divided many times and given many away. I don't know why everyone doesn't grow it.

Count me in as another 'David Ward' hater, the way the leaves curled under on mine made it look down right ugly, it ended up in one of the compost boxes. I don't have any with silver leaves, only spotted and the plain leafed 'Redstart' which grows and blooms it's head off. I also have a seedling, from either 'Sissinghurst White' or 'Redstart' which has pale green spots on the leaves.
My favorite to date is P.longifloia but I'm watching this thread to see which silver leafed pulmonaria comes out the winner. I just might have to try one:).

Here's a pic of 'Samourai':

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Great pic of it CPG! Thanks for showing it...
CMK

Majeste is wonderful. I've had him for at least 5 years, under an apple tree. He's gotten quite large, rivalling the size of an average hosta (like 24" across). Always silver, always early for flowering, which by the way, are pretty showy, considering they're small. Certainly more showy than say, bluebells.

Mine gets plenty of water in well drained soil. Once the apple tree leafs out, all shade. Oh, and he's crowded yet hold his own.

Thumbs up!

Odd that nobody has mentioned my favourite one; Berries and Cream. Grows well in spring and then seems to die back a bit in mid summer. Gave it a haircut and it grew well for the rest of the summer. This is taken in Sept.

I have not grown many other named varities but I bought some in the fall to try out.

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I am shocked to hear so many David Ward haters. I love mine! It is one of the earliest blooming plants and it is a joy to see its cute little pure pink flowers every spring. Yes, its not as vigorous as 'Majeste', but it serves a purpose. It doesn't need shearing mid-season all the time either. Sometimes Majeste can get spotty and need to start again.

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Of course, there is a big difference in size. DW above is 3 plants. This is one plant of Majeste:

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And after shearing and regrowing:

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-wendy, your DW is fantastic. Must really like living in your garden ;-)I notice it is doing that 'taco shell' thing with the leaves folding inward. Any clue why it does that? Always thought that was so unusual when mine did it.
Your majeste is wonderful too.
CMK

I'd bet that the "taco shell" thing is similar to what Hosta-folks call "drawstring effect". It has something to do with the cells in the variegated portion being smaller than the cells in the green portion of the leaf, and thereby contracting the leaf as a whole.

BTW Wendy, where do you garden? I wonder if the 'David Ward' situation is, at least in part, a function of climate.

Taco Shell, drawstring effect, that describes exactly what mine looked like. If mine looked like the one in Wendy's pics I'd still have it.

Annette

-CPG, thanks for the info on the "drawstring effect". Very interesting! Wonder why more variegated plants don't do it? Unless only certain plants are prone to it...
CMK

Funny, I never noticed the curled-in leaves at all before this thread. I will have to pay more attention to it.

My DW's microclimate might be the key. It is in a cool, shady, damp area of the garden. Look closely and you can see moss on the mulch. I rarely water in that part of the garden. It is the last part of the garden to lose the snowcover. It can be very wet there in spring and I don't go in that area much at all.

Every spring I say I am going to move a chunk of it to a better location where I can enjoy the early flowers. But I suspect I ought to just leave well enough alone.

Thanks for the information on location wendy ;-) I would say keep your DW there because it seems to love it! A few years ago I had a 'Hadspen Cream' Brunnera in the back and it was huge and lovely. Then I had to go move it!! Never looked quite as lush and healthy after that, though I am hoping it will do better since I moved it in summer.
CMK

wait a second.. I just assumed the "where I garden" geographic info was next to my username as always. I just noticed its gone???! What did those GW IT gremlins do now!?!?!

Its supposed to say MA 5A

They've been having "technical difficulties" for a couple of weeks now. I sent them a message about changing one's profile, but no response. But what's new? :(