Old-fashioned bleeding heart
Closeup of bleeding heart flowers.
* Common name: Old-fashioned pink bleeding heart
* Botanical name: Dicentra spectabilis
* What it is: An April-blooming perennial flower with stems of distinctive hanging pink blooms that resemble hearts with a drop at the bottom (as if its aorta is leaking). Plant has a bushy habit and is seldom bothered by bugs, disease or animal pests. Also comes in a white-blooming form.
* Size: About 3 feet tall and wide.
* Where to use: Works best as a back-of-border plant or mixed with plants that mature later in the season since old-fashioned bleeding heart’s main bad habit is dying to the ground in summer. Best in shade or part shade.
* Care: Needs little, if any, fertilizer. Cut to ground after foliage yellows in summer. Can be divided any time when dormant. Inside tip: Set a pot of annuals over the summer-dormant plants if you don’t like the empty hole from the plant’s dieback.
* Great partner: Surround the base with white-blooming sweet woodruff – a perfect match in color, texture, size and site needs. Foamflowers and silver-variegated lamium are other good partners.
White-blooming form of bleeding heart next to a dwarf Alberta spruce that hasn't yet been killed by spider mites.