Bleeding Hearts
Bleeding Hearts bring back memories of my Grandfather Stewart’s garden. It was a working man’s garden but there was a magnificent clump of Dicentra up against the neighbour’s garage that impressed the heck out of that ten year old boy. It seems that this plant has been around forever and has impressed more than one gardener. And so it should because it is extremely easy to grow and blooms like crazy in the shade.
Known also as Dutchman’s breeches, staggerweed (it is poisonous) and heart’s ease the Dicentra family are perennial favorites (excuse the pun).
Do Not Eat!
A beginning note is that the plant produces alkaloids and if you eat enough of the plant (why you’d do that is beyond me) you might get a narcotic effect. The old herbals describe the plant as narcotic and used for the treatment of syphilis, scrofula, skin infections as well as “female disorders”. It is not recommended for backyard medicine.
Growing Bleeding Hearts
Dicentra grow from 12 to 36 inches tall depending on the variety and species – see below.
Sunshine: This is a plant of the shade to part shade garden. The do grow out in the full sun but will tend to disappear in the middle of the summer (to reappear again the following spring) Do not grow in full sun and water-stress them or you’ll watch them get really ugly, really fast, and die. The flower colours vary with variety but they are generally red, pink or white and you can expect to see flowers in early to mid spring with the taller varieties and extended bloom times with the shorter varieties.
Plant the short varieties 18 inches apart and the taller ones 24 to 30 inches apart. They do not like clay soils but prefer a well-drained organic soil.
If you need extra, they divide very easily in early spring before they start sending shoots or they do self sow a little. The taller D. spectabilis can be propagated from cuttings although this is rarely done (it is too easy to whack off a bit of root).
Recommended Varieties
Note that some botanists are arguing about which parents contributed to which plants. I don’t care, I just grow them. And here are the better varieties:
D. eximia is a North American native (Northeast) with heavily indented leaves (quite fringed ) with small flowers. It is charming in the shade garden or naturalized shade area with trilliums. The bloom time is long if soil is kept damp but not water-logged.
‘Alba’ a white form.
‘Stuart Boothman’ is a soft pink with glaucous foliage.
D. formosa This is the Western North American native. This species is more drought tolerant than D. eximia but not as tolerant of wet conditions. It is much showier and heavier blooming than the D. eximia and there are more garden varieties under development.
‘Adrian Bloom’ Ruby-red flowers and good growth.
‘Alba’ a white flowering form and while not as vigorous as ‘Luxuriant’ below, it gives a good flower show.
‘Luxuriant’ cherry-reddish flowers carried above the 12 inch foliage. Blooms for a very long time and is much admired in my part-shade garden. I planted several together in a clump and it really is spectacular when it starts to bloom.
‘Snowflakes’ an excellent white form with larger white flowers than ‘Alba’.
D. spectabilis This is the old fashioned bleeding hearts that my grandfather grew. It sows itself arund in my garden and can make a nuisance of itself. My grandfather had a huge one so I give this plant some leeway in its invasiveness.
‘Goldheart’ a yellow-golden leaf form of bleeding hearts. It looks wonderful next to a dark yew but is not overly vigorous. It doesn’t do well in nursery production and you may have a hard time finding it. Once established, it is quite hardy.
‘Alba’ A white form of the old fashioned pink bleeding heart. Not quite as vigorous as the pink but not far behind.
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