Dicentra - Bleeding Heart

A graceful perennial, Dicentra or Bleeding Heart, is a great addition to your shade garden. Along with the traditional old-fashioned Bleeding Heart or d. spectabilis variety, the Dicentra family also includes the Fernleaf type. The mounded, lacey foliage of d. spectabilis is the larger of the two varieties and sends up arching stems that produce heart-shaped flowers in colors from white, to pink, to red. Preferring the coolness of spring, these varieties will go dormant in the heat of the summer and will need to be planted among other perennials that will fill in and cover the disappearing foliage. This is not true of the Fernleaf Bleeding Heart, as these smaller plants with finely cut, fern-like foliage, can withstand more sun and will bloom not only in spring, but through the summer.