Lungwort
One of the earliest reliable nectar plants in a temperate garden, and the plant the hairy-footed flower bee emerges onto. Lungwort flowers in March in shady corners where almost nothing else is open, and its flowers change colour from pink to blue as they age — a signal to visiting bees that the older ones are no longer worth the trip.
Value to bees
- Nectar
- High
- Pollen
- Moderate
- As a honey crop
- Feeds the colony but rarely yields a surplus
- Which bees, and why
- The classic plant of the hairy-footed flower bee, whose males hold territories over lungwort patches in March and chase off all comers. Long-tongued bumblebee queens work it heavily; short-tongued ones often rob it through the base.
A moderately deep funnel that favours longer-tongued bees. Honey bees manage it and work less efficiently than the digger bees it is really built for.
- Worth knowing
- Good nectar at the point in the year when bumblebee queens are founding nests and the earliest solitary bees are emerging.
Flowering
- In flower
- February to May (northern hemisphere)
One of the first substantial garden nectar sources, and it flowers for six to eight weeks.
- When nectar flows
- Steady nectar in cool weather when many plants will not secrete. The pink-to-blue colour change signals pollination status and saves visiting bees wasted trips.
- Year-to-year variation
- Dependable every year. Never a honey crop — its value is the date.
Growing it
- Conditions
- Part to full shade, moist humus-rich soil. It sulks and mildews in dry sun.
- Size
- 25-40 cm.
- Native range
- Europe, in woodland and hedge bottoms.
- Suits
- Small gardens, Large gardens, Containers and window boxes, Hedgerow
- One of the best early plants for a shady corner, and it flowers before the tree canopy closes.
- Cut back hard after flowering for fresh clean foliage; the old leaves mildew badly.
- Spreads slowly by clump and self-seeds gently. Named cultivars are widely available and most flower as well as the species.
What it looks like
A low clump of rough white-spotted leaves with clusters of funnel-shaped flowers opening pink and turning violet-blue, both colours present on the same plant.
Sources
- Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland — Bloomsbury (2015) · Field guide
- Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation — Oxford University Press (2010) · Monograph
How sources are selected and weighted is set out in the sources and evidence policy.
Guides covering this plant
- Spring plants for beesSpring forage decides how many colonies exist by summer. A bumblebee queen who cannot find pollen in March does not found a colony, and a honey bee colony without early pollen cannot build.
- A bee-friendly garden in Britain and IrelandAround 270 bee species, one honey bee among them, and a climate that gives you flowering months at both ends of the year that most of the world does not get. The British gaps are February and late June, and both are fixable.
- Plants for bumblebeesLong tongues, big bodies, cold tolerance and an annual colony that has to build from a single queen. Bumblebees can use flowers honey bees cannot reach, and they need forage at both ends of the year when honey bees are indoors.
Tools for planning planting
- Flowering calendar
What should I plant so that something is always in flower for bees?
- Bee-friendly garden planner
What should I plant in the space I actually have?
- Plant recommendation tool
Which plant fills this specific gap?