Have you ever divided a mature Bleeding Heart? Today I endeavored upon moving a big one, and was shocked at the huge mass of fat, brittle roots! It was so big this spring that it nearly covered the path that leads to my entry, so it had to be moved. The funny thing is that I had this idea to move it 3 years ago, and thought I had done just that, but apparently I had left pieces of root in the ground that decided to grow. They ended up being a lot bigger than the original plant. I ended up with 4 large divisions and got them replanted in homes I think will be better suited.

This pic was taken last year, I think it doubled in size this spring.

gemini_sage.... wow!! That is a beautiful specimen!! I just love these plants. They remind me of my childhood and my fathers garden. No ... I have never divided one... but I was thinking of trying to grow one in a pot because I have pretty much used up all my garden space.... my sweet husband built me a little outdoor sanctuary with shade cloth covering it along the side of our home. We have a pretty little fountain there and lots of shade/moisture loving plants. As I live in Southern California... I need to provide extra shade and moisture for certain plants and the bleeding heart would most definately prefer it there. I wonder how well the plant would do... sounds like they have lots of roots and need to really spread out... although most plants are amazingly adaptive. I just love the cottage garden style and these plants really represent that nicely.....Thanks for sharing the picture.... glad you succeeded in moving them all. Now you will have years of lovely flowers to look forward to!! Nancy

I have moved one. Roots as large as my forearm.
Dont sweat it. The plant broke into pieces and I just winged it and planted half the thing. It is huge now and I will have to dig it again due to invasive tendencies the branches are shading astilbes.
Its 3 years since it was transplanted. Pieces of roots left at the old site are making new plants.
I had no idea the plant was so stridant.
I might have to take the whole thing and put it on the back hill.

Nancy, I believe Bleeding Hearts will tolerate some sun if they get plenty of moisture. Here they go dormant pretty quickly once the temps go up- we had a couple of weeks of days in the 90s and this big one started yellowing, which is what gave me the idea to go ahead and divide and move it. They exemplify the cottage style to me too, old fashioned and graceful, which I just love.

JoAnn, I don't know how one would go about getting all those roots out of the ground, they're so fleshy and brittle they break off with the least bit of pressure. I'm very curious what's going to show up there next spring. I guess if a plant is going to be extra persistent, I'm glad it's one I love so much.

I believe the larger pieces made little plants. I am going to dig my monster after I have a bunch of women over for an afternoon in the garde.

That's inspiring, Neal! I have some bleeding heart that's been in the ground for years and never even thought about dividing it...I have just the place for some new roots to go, too. Thanks for the picture and the idea.

Bev, this one has only been in this spot for 4 years, so I'll bet you'll have a huge mass of roots, and plenty of divisions. If it hadn't started eating my path, I don't think I would have thought to divide it either.

I'm thinking that I'll give it a try today. I've got two garden areas that must be reworked, both of them are shady areas. I also found another spring bloomer yesterday to go into the same bed-Tiarella Pink Skyrocket...half price at Lowe's. Hopefully I'll find lots of dicentra in there to be transplanted. I can only dream of them eating a path.

We move our biggest one about 10 years ago. All the broken bits of roots left behind sprouts over the next few years. We get a lot of seedlings too.

I have never found the first seedling. I wonder what they require to germinate?

Here is a few picures of some of my bleeding hearts. The pink one constantly is sending out seedling. Take a close look at your bleeding heart early summer and see if you find the little "pea like" seed pods. I have not seen any on the Gold Heart bleeding heart. Easy to divide and they bounce back so easy. I have rich black soil and they just love it.

Gold Heart bleeding heart




Pink



Alba

Gold Heart in bloom

Just beautiful, Doglover!

Love the lushness of your gardens. That is such a gorgeous Dicentra!!

I want the new one with red blooms called 'Valentine.' I think I'll wait until I can buy the actual growing plant though. I've had trouble with the roots not making plants when I buy them bare root. Your plant looks awesome!

I love bleeding hearts, too -- I have the old-fashioned type and have had the same experience with trying to transplant, roots are very brittle but I'm not sure it's possible to kill these plants, just stick whatever you have back in the ground and they will grow! I get tons of seedlings each year as well, and from my original pink plant I now have both pink and white-flowered bleeding hearts. The seed pods form where each flower is, so don't be too diligent about dead-heading ! (Never a problem for me )

Sandy, yours are so beautiful!!!

Love the white and pink together.

We last ours about 10 yrs ago. I really want to replace. Has anyone tried the 'burning heart' plants?

I have been growing my bleeding hearts in a container, and it truly is very resilient. A few weeks ago, I thought one container was empty and had been digging the soil only to find out there were some dormant roots there this winter. I was so afraid I may have killed it, but luckily it wasn't inspite of the accidental digging and cutting off some roots. It is now starting to wake up too

These just popped up.

Planted some whites and pinks bare-root last fall.

Mine are already poking up, as well -- this is very early, I hope they won't be damaged by cold weather that seems almost bound to come before it's really "spring" (even though today is the official first day). I love how easy it is to tell the pink-flowered from the white even as seedlings. Need to do some rearranging in my garden!