I nominate Bleeding Hearts as a favorite shade plant. The arching branches with the dangling hearts look so delicate in the spring and I think it has interesting foliage. It self sows and multiplies well, too!

Unfortunately the bleeding hearts in my yard were under the huge oak tree that was just taken down this week. I will have to find a new shady place to keep my bleeding hearts going.

Database Link:
Bleeding Hearts (Lamprocapnos)



Just realized that I hadn't put any of my pictures in the database. These are going in the general category since I don't know the cultivar:

I have to agree with you Vickie, the tiny heart shaped blooms are so interesting, and the foliage is so lacy and lovely.

Love this plant. It is one of my early spring flowers and sometimes goes dormant if the summer is hot, although that also depends on how much sun exposure it gets.. It does not self seed for me, but is easy to divide in the spring or fall. When my granddaughter was young, she called them bloody hearts, which somehow sounded a bit more macabre to me.

Glad to hear it Lynn and Deb!

Thank you for using one of my photos! I do love these and have several in my gardens. I just bought the gold leafed one with the white flowers last fall. I can't wait to see it bloom!

I used to have bleeding hearts..I think it got zapped out by our heat here and did not return anymore. But it was really pretty when it managed to bloom.

I see there is a new yellow variety "Sulpher Hearts"; wonder if anyone has grown that one?

Three cheers for bleeding hearts!
just the old-fashioned variety here

I've always loved bleeding hearts in my shade garden. Mine don't seem to self sow, but they spread readily in a friend's garden. She has gifted me with seedlings every spring for years. Last year I also planted bare root plants of the cultivar 'Valentine' which has dark red hearts.

The photo here is of the first three bleeding hearts I ever planted - noid - nice and mature now.


Valentine

Rose, I thought it was a pretty picture:)

Dirt, I love the tulips with the bleeding hearts in that first shot

Terri, what a wonderful woodland picture of bleeding hearts! So nice that your neighbor has some to share and keep them going:)

I grow a couple bleeding hearts in my garden as a memory plant. My grandmother had a huge plant that grew right next to the front door and I always thought it was because she was a very loving grandmother. She also always had a huge heart leaf philodendron in the house.

Question?
Do your bleeding hearts die back in the summer?
Just wondering if they all do or just the old-fashion ones?

Mine die back in the summer - usually gone by the end of June or early July.

The D. spectabilis do go summer dormant for me--
I had several Dicentra 'Luxuriant' where I used to live and they did not. In fact, they boomed off/on all summer and got more and more impressive each year.
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra 'Luxuriant')
comment
Posted by Cyclaminist (Minneapolis, Minnesota - Zone 5a) on Apr 26, 2015 12:17 PM

Dicentra 'Luxuriant' is a hybrid of three species of bleeding-heart: Dicentra eximia (the Appalachian species), Dicentra formosa (the Pacific Coast species), and Dicentra peregrina (the Japanese and Siberian alpine species).

I do not know the extent of summer dormancy in these species, but I imagine that at least one or more of them don't, just based on my experience with the hybrid

Dirt, same here for me. It is only the old fashioned bleeding hearts (dicentra spectabilis) that goes dormant in the summer. I have 'Luxuriant' and fringed bleeding hearts (dicentra eximia) and they keep their foliage all season and do bloom on and off after the first spring flush. I didn't know that little tidbit about 'Luxuriant' being a hybrid of those three species - learn something new every day

My bleeding hearts did die back in summer too. I will have to check out Luxuriant. I think it would be nice to see the foliage stick around in summer.

Excellent choice

Hi all, I love the old fashioned bleeding hearts too. They have a grace in the garden that is lovely & they also make good cut flowers too. My bleeding hearts self sow, but are not invasive. I grow mine in part sun & in shade & they do not go dormant in my 6a garden. They do begin to look a little ratty, so I cut them back to the ground at that point, to no ill-effect.

Dirt, I love your photos, particularly the first with tulips & the third with ? clematis & ? alliums?

The old fashioned ones are taller and more spectacular, but the fringed bleeding hearts are real workhorses. They bloom all summer long.

Thanks!
third is a clematis (backside just as pretty as the front) and some tradescantia

I like the fact that the old-fashioned bleeding heats go dormant--gives more elbow room for the summer players

I agree with Vickie. Bleeding Hearts are hard to beat in the shade gardens, and they are easy to keep. They are also self-sewing which is a bonus. They tend to go dormant in very dry summers, but that's natural; and come back year after year!