The Asian bleeding heart grows to 120 cm (47 in) tall by 45 cm (18 in) wide. It is a rhizomatousherbaceous perennial with 3-lobed compound leaves on fleshy green to pink stems. The arching horizontal racemes of up to 20 pendant flowers are borne in spring and early summer. The outer petals are bright fuchsia-pink, while the inner ones are white. The flowers strikingly resemble the conventional heart shape, with a droplet beneath – hence the common name. The plant sometimes behaves as a spring ephemeral, going dormant in summer.
Blooms of the bleeding heart plant (Dicentra spectabilis) appear in early spring adorning the garden with attention-getting, heart-shaped flowers borne on arching stems. Attractive, bluish-green foliage emerges first as the plant wakes from dormancy, and the flowers of the bleeding heart may be pink and white or solid white as with the bleeding heart cultivar ‘Alba’.
Care
Soil – It grows best in well-draining soil that’s moist and rich in organic matter, such as leaf mould or compost.
Growing bleeding hearts need a cool, shady area for optimum bloom in warmer southern zones, but farther north this specimen may bloom in a full sun location.
Keep your bleeding hearts in the Goldilocks Zone of water – not too wet and not too dry.
Plant in shade or part-shade in moist, organically rich, well-draining soil.
Find companion plants that come up and are at their peak after bleeding hearts lose the last of their brittle foliage.
