Lamprocapnos spectabilis, formerly Dicentra spectabilis. Also called old-fashioned bleeding heart, Asian bleeding heart, lyre flower, lady-in-a-bath and lady’s locket.
Bleeding heart is the shade plant that outlives the house it was planted beside. In late spring it hangs out arching stems of pink hearts, each with a white drop dangling beneath, like a charm bracelet strung along a fishing rod. Then, if the soil dries out, it quietly disappears for the summer, leaving a gap in the bed and a gardener convinced they’ve killed it. They haven’t. It will be back next spring, and with steady moisture it can be talked into staying much longer.
Botanists moved it out of the genus Dicentra when DNA showed it isn’t a close relative of the other bleeding hearts. Plenty of nurseries still sell it as Dicentra spectabilis. It’s the same plant.
Need to Know
Life cycle | Herbaceous perennial; very long lived |
Zone | Zone 3 to 9; hardy across much of Canada |
Height and spread | 24 to 36 inches tall and about as wide |
Sun | Dappled shade or morning sun with afternoon shade; takes more sun where summers are cool and the soil stays moist |
Water | Evenly moist from spring through summer; dry soil sends it into early dormancy |
Soil | Rich in organic matter, moist but well drained; pH about 6 to 7.5 |
Bloom time | Late spring, for three to four weeks |
Frost tolerance | Dormant roots survive about -40 Celsius under snow; new shoots handle light frost, but a hard freeze around -3 Celsius can blacken shoots and flower buds |
Good to Know
Plant family | Poppy family (Papaveraceae) |
Native range | Cool, moist woodlands of southeastern Siberia, northern China and Korea |
Planting depth | Bare-root crowns with buds 1 to 2 inches below the soil; potted plants at the same level as in the pot |
Spacing | 24 to 30 inches |
Fertilizer | A top dressing of compost or well-rotted manure in autumn or early spring |
Propagation | Division, root cuttings or seed (blooms in the second year) |
Toxicity | All parts toxic to people, dogs and cats if eaten; sap can irritate skin |
Pests | Slugs, snails and aphids; deer and rabbits leave it alone |
The other bleeding hearts
The true Dicentra species are smaller cousins with ferny leaves. Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia), western or Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa, native to southwestern British Columbia) and their hybrids, such as ‘Luxuriant’ and ‘King of Hearts’, grow 12 to 18 inches tall and bloom on and off all summer if the soil stays moist. They’re the better choice if you want flowers past June.
Two native woodland wildflowers of eastern Canada, Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) and squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis), are true spring ephemerals. They bloom early and disappear by early summer no matter how much you water them. Grow them all in moist, rich soil in the shade.
Where to plant it
Think of the forest floor in spring, before the trees have fully leafed out: bright, cool, moist and sheltered. That’s what bleeding heart wants. Dappled shade under deciduous trees or the east side of a building suits it well. Deep shade gives you lovely leaves and very few hearts. Hot afternoon sun scorches it and hurries it into dormancy.
Drainage matters more than almost anything else. Bleeding heart likes moisture, but soggy soil, especially in winter, rots the fleshy roots and kills the plant. A sheltered spot also helps, since the flowering stems are hollow and snap in strong wind.
Planting
Plant in spring or early autumn. Potted plants go in at the same depth they grew in the pot. Bare-root crowns, often sold in bags in spring, should have their buds 1 to 2 inches below the soil surface.
Give it room. That modest little crown becomes a shrub-sized clump within a few years. And mark the spot. A plant that vanishes every summer is a plant that can get dug up by accident in the fall.
Water and feeding
The famous summer disappearing act isn’t really triggered by heat, although heat gets the blame. It’s a response to dry soil, and hot weather simply dries soil faster. Keep the ground evenly moist and the plant stays green well into summer, sometimes until the shorter days of autumn send it to sleep. A 2-inch layer of mulch helps hold that moisture and keeps the roots cool.
Feeding is simple. A top dressing of compost or well-rotted manure each autumn or early spring is plenty.
When it fades
When the leaves start to yellow, resist the urge to tidy up. Cutting it back in midsummer won’t bring a fresh flush of leaves, and the fading foliage is busy sending food down to the roots. Plants left to die back on their own come back bigger, with more flowering stems. Once the leaves are completely brown, cut them to the ground.
To hide the gap, plant it among late risers that fill out as it fades: hostas, ferns, astilbe or lungwort. A few shade annuals tucked in nearby also do the job.
Winter
Bleeding heart asks for nothing in winter except good drainage. Where snow cover is thin or unreliable, a loose mulch of leaves after the ground freezes helps keep the crown from heaving.
Making more
You rarely need to divide bleeding heart. It doesn’t get crowded in the centre, and its brittle roots resent being disturbed. If you want more plants, divide in autumn once it’s dormant, or very early in spring before the buds break. Each piece needs two or three buds (or eyes). You can also take root cuttings 3 to 4 inches long in spring or autumn and set them in a moist potting mix.
Seed takes patience. A plant won’t set seed with its own pollen, and since most nursery plants are divisions, two plants of the same variety are usually genetically the same plant. You need two genetically different plants nearby, such as two different varieties, or a variety and a seedling. The seed needs a warm spell followed by a cold one before it will sprout, so sow it fresh outdoors and expect seedlings the following spring. They bloom in their second year. Self-sown seedlings sometimes turn up around established plants and may not look like their parents.
A few to look for
The classic is rose-pink and white. ‘Alba’ has pure white flowers. ‘Gold Heart’ has golden leaves on peach-coloured stems; give it moderate shade, since the leaves sunburn in full sun. ‘Valentine’ has cherry-red hearts on dark red stems. It was found as a chance seedling in a garden in Prince George, British Columbia.
Problems
Bleeding heart has few enemies. Slugs and snails may chew new shoots, and aphids sometimes cluster on the stems. Deer and rabbits ignore it.
Root and crown rot are the most common killers, and both come from wet soil. Fusarium wilt causes yellowing and wilting despite good moisture.
Bleeding heart can also pick up tobacco rattle virus, which shows up as yellow rings or wavy lines on the leaves. It travels in divided nursery stock and through soil nematodes, and there is no cure. Infected plants don’t always decline, but they can pass the virus to hostas, peonies and other perennials, so it’s best to remove any plant with symptoms and buy from reputable growers.
In a vase
Bleeding heart makes a lovely cut flower. Cut stems when the first heart is fully open; the rest will open in the vase. They last about a week in plain water and longer with floral preservative.
Images
References
Bleeding Heart: A Review for Growers. Laurie Hodges, HortTechnology, 2012. A review of the research on bleeding heart culture. It reports that summer dieback is caused by moisture stress rather than heat, that plants left to die back naturally return larger, and that a plant needs pollen from a genetically different plant to set seed.
Phylogeny and classification of Fumariaceae, with emphasis on Dicentra s.l., based on the plastid gene rps16 intron. Magnus Lidén and colleagues, Plant Systematics and Evolution, 1997. The DNA study that moved bleeding heart out of Dicentra and into its own genus, Lamprocapnos.
Dicentra, Epimedium, and Heuchera: New Perennial Ornamental Hosts of Tobacco rattle virus in the United States. B.E.L. Lockhart, Plant Disease, 2000. The first report of tobacco rattle virus in bleeding heart in the United States, found in plants from commercial nurseries and home gardens, with a note that trade in divided perennials may be spreading it.
Further reading
NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Bleeding heart. A botanical profile with identification photos and plants commonly confused with it.
Penn State Extension: The timeless beauty of bleeding hearts in the garden. More on cultivars and North American native bleeding hearts.
E-Flora BC: Dicentra formosa. Distribution maps and photos of western bleeding heart in the wild in British Columbia.