Round Robin: Herbal Insecticide and Herb Sale Advice
Notes from Regional Herb Gardeners
April/May 1993
By Andy Van Hevelingen
NEWBERG, Oregon—April is the month of plant sales here in the Pacific Northwest. They are listed in the paper every weekend, and with the participation of local botanical gardens and garden societies, the selection of plant material is great, and plant buyers are in earnest. Even among genteel gardeners, the law of the jungle reigns: the first in line get the choicest plants. After a long, cold winter, I relish visiting as many sales as possible and returning home with an armload of plant booty. This year, I’m particularly interested in acquiring some of the newer lungwort introductions, among them Pulmonaria ‘Little Star’, P. ‘Benediction’, and the superb P. ‘Roy Davidson’. Lungworts are excellent choices for moisture-retentive soil in partial shade. These cultivars all form low, clumping mats of robust, dark green foliage with beautiful silver spotting, followed by deep blue flowers (sky blue and pink for ‘Roy Davidson’) in spring. They go particularly well with our native dogtooth violets (Erythronium spp.) and with the foliage of wild ginger (Asarum canadense), whose curious brown flower is hard to spot.
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