Having visited Anglesey Abbey's Winter Garden a couple of week's back, I was of course entranced as most visitors are by the glade of Himalayan Birch trees (Betulis utilis Jacquemontii). I seem to remember hearing that the white trunks are washed to gleam in the gloom, and they do indeed look magnificent.
Now more work needs to be done to establish how good non-native plants are for garden wildlife, but being a close relative of the Silver Birch I am hopeful that Himalayan Birch supports many of the same creatures that enjoy our the British species.
But what made me excited as a wildlife gardener was what they had got planted underneath. It was a bed of Lungwort (Pulmonaria). They weren't marked up to tell me which species (or probably cultivar) they are, but I've no doubt that, come the early spring, they will be abuzz with Honeybees and bumblebees. I love watching the bees with their bottoms in the air as they guzzle hungrily in the blue, mauve and pink little trumpet flowers.
And even at this time of year I think Lungwort looks great. When many plants have either died off or their leaves are looking decidedly tired, the Lungwort's sprays of pale-spotted leaves are really quite fun.
Whether you'll agree that the name is fun I'm not so sure. The 'Lung' bit and the 'Pulmonaria' bit are indeed to do with lungs because the leaves were thought to look like diseased lungs (nice!).So what would you do in olden times if you didn't have a cure for a disease? Cook up something that looked similar in the hope it would do some good.
And you can still make Lungwort tea or cough-medicine today. It's just that, with the range of chemicals the leaves contain, I would strongly advise against. The modern doctor in me says to leave them ready for the bees instead - it'll certainly be a way to cure the winter blues!
Lungwort is one of my favorite shade loving plants, I have it mixed with autumn cyclamen, and together they really do put on a show at this time of year.
I have a mix of native and non-native plants in my garden, as long as the food source is there my wildlife are not fussy.
I find lungwort to be one of those rare plants that can totally look after its self but not become a problem. My sister got ours twenty+ years ago from a heap of weeds that had been discarded and squashed on a path. I think it is the common garden P officinalis not the native type. But hopefully, like you say with the Himalayan Birch, the wildlife isn't worried about that. (the bees certainly aren't worried!)