Cultivation Information and How to Grow Dicentra
Botanical and Common Name: Dicentra often goes by the common name bleeding heart because of the shape and appearance of the flowers.
Plant Category: Bleeding heart plants are herbaceous perennials.
Bloom Time and Color: Bleeding heart blooms early spring through early summer and usually has pink, heart-shaped blooms. Some dicentra plants are available with flowers in white, cream or darker pink, near-purple color.
Foliage: The leaves are deeply lobed and some, even fern-like with fine cut leaves making bleeding hearts a beautiful addition to many gardens.
Growth Habit: Dicentra plants have a mounding growth habit with long, arching flower stems.
Dimensions: Most bleeding hearts grow between 1-3' tall and wide.
Preferred Conditions: Dicentra are hardy zones 2b-10 and prefer dappled shade and cool conditions. In areas with hot summers the foliage and flowers may die back in the heat and return with cooler fall weather. Moist, fertile soil is best for bleeding hearts.
Maintenance:Summer is a good time to divide Dicentra as it winds down for dormancy but most bleeding heart plants won't grow aggressively in the garden so don't need to be divided very often.
Pests or Diseases: If the soil is too wet, bleeding hearts may suffer from crown rot. In areas with dry, hot summers, bleeding hearts may not do well. Aphids can also be a problem.
Propagation Methods: Bleeding heart can be sown directly outdoors in the fall and may self-seed in the garden. The plant can also be grown easily from rhozomous cuttings or stem cuttings.
Using Bleeding Heart in the Garden Landscape
Companion Plants: Dicentra pairs nicely with many cottage garden plants such as hardy geranium, foxglove or daylilies. Use other shade-loving plants like hostas, brunnera and hellebores to combine with bleeding hearts in the part shade garden.
Seasons of Interest: Spring flowers and foliage make a beautiful addition to the early garden, and the plant will often come back with fern-like foliage in the cool, fall weather.
Uses in the Garden: Use bleeding heart for a beautiful spring garden, shady spot under ornamental deciduous trees or with other old-fashioned cottage garden plants.
Varieties and Cultivars:
Fringed Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia) - Fringed bleeding heart is a small variety of bleeding heart that grows native in the Eastern United States. The plant will often naturalize in a woodland setting and is used in cut flower arrangements as well. The fringed bleeding heart grows about 12-18" tall and has fine cut foliage with a long bloom season.
- 'Alba' and 'Snowflakes'- Both of these dicentra are white flowering variety.
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) - The most commonly available bleeding heart and one of the larger dicentra variety for the garden landscape. The foliage is less deeply cut than other bleeding hearts but has the same, graceful feel.
- 'Gold Heart'- A unique bleeding heart, the 'Gold Heart' cultivar has lighter, golden-green color foliage creating a bright spot in the dappled shade garden.
- 'Alba'- The white flowering form of D. spectabilis, the white bleeding heart grows 2-3 feet tall.
Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)- A low-growing wild flower, Dutchman's breeches is in the same genus as bleeding hearts. While the flowers are equally graceful in appearance, the stems grow upright rather on arching stems like bleeding heart.
Sources: Missouri Botanical Garden
Heirloom Country Gardens by Sarah Wolfgang Heffner
Angela England - Angela England is a problogger, mother of four (yes I know what causes that), speaker, teacher, labor doula, gardener and so much more.
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