Common Name : Bleeding Heart

Latin Name : Dicentra

Description : Bleeding Heart are a sentimental favorite. Their blooms form a perfect heart, with a droplet hanging from the bottom of the bloom. Blooms either white or pink. Their foliage is a dusky blue-green from spring through July.

Bleeding heart prefer deep shade. If planted in sun, they will turn yellow and go dormant early in the season. Bleeding heart are one of the first perennials to shoot up in the spring, and they are usually in bloom by June, before most other plants kick in.

After the bleeding heart stops blooming, its foliage slowly fades until by August it is virtually all dead. Do not be alarmed. Simply cut away the dead stems and leaves. The plant will come back next year. Bleeding Heart have no noticable disease or insect problems.

The soil in which the Bleeding Heart is planted should not be too moist when the plant is dormant, or root rot may turn the plant to mush. Never cover a Bleeding Heart for winter. They are hardy. Never plant a Bleeding Heart where it will sit in water at any time.

In addition to the common Bleeding Heart there is the less common “Luxuriant.” The Luxuriant can bloom all season, and requires less moisture than the common. Its leaves are deeply cut and lacy, and the plant is about one-third the size of the common Bleeding Heart. The foliage remains strong all summer, even in sun. Luxuriant are susceptible to root rot, and can die out if the soil is wet going into the winter. Plant in a raised bed of peat, particularly in the valley.