Is Lungwort deer resistant?
Pulmonaria officinalis
About Lungwort
Bristly, sandpaper-textured leaves that deer refuse, and silver-spotted foliage that lights up deep shade from spring to frost. It flowers early, pink opening to blue on the same stem, then the leaves take over as the real point of the plant. Give it moisture and it holds them cleanly all season. Two things go wrong. It wilts dramatically in dry spells and looks dead, though it usually recovers by morning after a soak. And powdery mildew hits the older species hard in humid summers. The modern spotted cultivars were bred largely for mildew resistance and are worth paying for. Cut damaged leaves to the ground in midsummer and it reflushes.
Soil and care
- Soil pH
- 6 to 7.5
- Drainage
- Consistently moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Fertility
- Moderate
- Spacing
- 12 to 18 in apart
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Maintenance
- Low
Tolerances and uses
- Drought
- Low
- Salt
- Low
- Pollinators
- Moderate
What to plant it with
Keep apart from
- Bugleweed
Ajuga runs; lungwort does not. The groundcover wins and you lose the lungwort.
Similar to Lungwort
Other perennials with the same deer rating.
- Anise HyssopAgastache sp.Zones 4–9, genus rangeRarely damaged
- Basket of GoldAurinia saxatilisZones 3–7Rarely damaged
- Bearded IrisIris germanicaZones 3–9Rarely damaged
- Bigleaf GoldenrayLigularia dentataZones 4–8Rarely damaged
- Bleeding HeartLamprocapnos spectabilisZones 3–9Rarely damaged
- Butter and EggsLinaria vulgarisZones 3–9Rarely damaged
Where Lungwort grows
Hardy across most of these 50 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvania
- New Jersey
- New York
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Wisconsin
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Georgia
- Texas
- Colorado
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Maine
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- West Virginia
- Kentucky
- South Carolina
- Florida
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Louisiana
- Arkansas
- Oklahoma
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Iowa
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Idaho
- Utah
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexico
- Alaska
- District of Columbia
Browse from here
Every list Lungwort belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Lungwort
- Is Lungwort deer resistant?
- Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) is rated Rarely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Deer almost always leave this alone.
- What hardiness zones does Lungwort grow in?
- Lungwort is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 8. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Lungwort grow in shade?
- Yes. Lungwort tolerates full shade to part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Lungwort get?
- Mature height is roughly 6–12 in. Growth rate is slow.
- When does Lungwort bloom?
- Lungwort flowers from March–May.