Dicentra
Bleeding Heart
Treasured by all who behold them, Bleeding Hearts are ideal for the front of a border or a more relaxed setting such as a cottage garden or wildflower planting. These easily cultivated perennials appreciate ample shade during hot summers and flourish in well-drained humus-rich soil that’s not too wet.
Famed German plant breeder Ernest Pagels masterminded this stylish union of the eastern U.S. native, Dicentra eximia and our western native, Dicentra formosa. Deeply dissected, powdery blue-green foliage sends forth a generous showing of foot-tall stems laden with pendulous white flowers that reside well above the foliage. Irresistible to hummingbirds and bumblebees, ‘Aurora’s refined prowess touts vigor, bountiful blooms, deer resistance and superb winter hardiness, while casting luminous highlights in a lightly dappled and somewhat moist perennial border or woodland setting.
Blooms April–mid-June
Size: 10" – 15" high x 12" wide.
Hardy to zone 5.
Selected from our Pacific coast species, ‘Bacchanal’ sprouts an elegant filigree-like mound of deeply cut gray-green foliage. The sumptuous, velvety wine-red flowers are draped like romantic heart-shaped lockets, festooning lithe, arching stems. Reliable, energetic and long blooming, this urbane compact cultivar delights bees, begs moist niches and looks best when massed in shady borders or along wooded paths.
Blooms April–May
Size: 12" high x 12" wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
With charm to spare, alabaster heart-shaped “lockets”, each inscribed by a small pink mark gracefully dangle from pendulous, branched sprays atop a soft-looking ferny hummock. This choice evergreen perennial easily naturalizes given a cool moist location, the fernlike delicacy of its deeply divided, smoky blue leaves belying their vigor.
Unparalleled in the shade garden, ‘Margery Fish’ becomes summer dormant when the soil is too dry, can be planted as a lacy counterpoint to Tiarella ‘Mint Chocolate’ or cut for a sterling addition to a bouquet.
Blooms April–May & again in fall.
Size: 10" high x 12" wide.
Hardy to zone 5.
Hailing from the Pope’s Hadspen Gardens in Somerset, England, this Dicentra’s artful golden mounds of dissected ferny leaves will light up the shady corners of your garden. Nodding heart-styled rose-pink flowers line long, one-sided arching racemes above spectacular glowing foliage that is more yellow in bright shade and transforms to lime green in deeper shade. ‘Gold Heart’ can be massed with white-flowering Brunnera ‘Mr. Morse’ and Anemone ‘Snow Angel’ for sparkling color and contrasting foliar textures.
Blooms April–May
Size: 18" – 2' 0" high x 2' 0" – 2-1/2' wide.
Hardy to zone 4.
Paying tribute to the astute Berkshire-based alpine plantsman and author, this resilient AGM winner most likely arose from a Dicentra exima and Dicentra formosa cross. Copious arching sprays adorned with romantic deep rosy-pink floral hearts lounge above the snug, finely divided ensemble of slender lobed gray-green leaflets. A reliable lush-looking perennial, ‘Stuart Boothman’ can be planted amid Pulmonaria ‘Benediction’ or Hakonechloa macra in cottage gardens and mixed borders or beneath shrubs, where it blooms for months, thwarts bunnies and deer and adores consistent moist soil plus protection from hot afternoon sun.
Blooms April–July
Size: 8" – 15" high x 12" – 18" wide.
Hardy to zone 5.
