Latin: Dicentra formosa
Plant type: Perennial
Size: 1 ½’ x 3’
Light: Partial to full shade
Water: Regular water
Zone: 7 to 10
Bleeding Hearts is an elegant perennial that bears clusters of rose-pink pendulous flowers held above blue-green, fern-like foliage in the spring and summer. It dies back in the summer without irrigation, and can be invasive if irrigated during the summer.
Growing naturally along stream banks in shady areas, Bleeding Hearts prefers a moist environment, with humus-rich, well-drained soil, in partial to full shade. In favorable conditions, it spreads freely by rhizomes and seeding [25].
Plant Bleeding Hearts where its beauty will be enjoyed in the spring and early summer, but won’t be missed when it dies back. Mix with other natives such as Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana), Coral Bells (Heuchera micrantha), and ferns.
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