Bleeding Heart plants are not only beautiful, they are easy to grow, and take minimal maintenance. The graceful blooms look like tiny little hearts hanging from a string!
Bleeding heart plants are a classic choice for any perennial garden. Their delicate, heart-shaped flowers have been brightening shade gardens since the early 1800s. Blooming in early spring, they add soft color just as winter fades. With bright green leaves and graceful, arching stems, old-fashioned bleeding hearts bring a timeless beauty to any garden space.
At our former home on Sutton Place, there was a narrow walkway along the side of the garage leading to the backyard. Between the house and the walkway sat a small, 2-foot-wide garden bed. The first section was planted with hosta plants, but the second section, right outside our screened-in porch, was a shaded, moist spot where nothing seemed to thrive.
A few years before we moved, I decided to try bleeding heart plants. I found two struggling ones on clearance at the end of summer, dug up the bed, added compost, and planted them with fingers crossed. The next spring, they were full and green, though they only produced a few blooms. By their second year, they had doubled in size and were covered in flowers. In the spring of 2021, just a few months before we moved, they returned bigger and more beautiful than ever.
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How to Grow Bleeding Heart Plants
- Growing bleeding hearts is easy. Plant in the spring, but wait until the soil has warmed a bit, and there is no possibility of a hard frost. Try to find bedding plants that look healthy…although mine were the opposite, and they did just fine! Bleeding Hearts can also be started from bulbs, or bare-root plants.
- They love full shade, but will be fine in partial shade. They also love soil full of moisture.
- Bleeding hearts like rich soil, so if your soil is old and dry, add some compost.
- Water well the first year, apply a thick layer of mulch, and then bleeding heart plants basically take care of themselves.
- Bleeding heart plants are finished blooming by late spring, the foliage turn yellow, and the plant dies down. In early summer you can cut them back.
- It works well to mix bleeding hearts in with other shade-loving perennials that have a later bloom time. That way when they die down, you don’t have an empty spot.
- There is no need to split or move this plant. Once established, each clump likes to stay put!
Good Things About Bleeding Hearts
- Feel free to add this beautiful plant to your garden even if you have issues with deer and rabbits. The deer and rabbits don’t like them. Pests don’t like them much either!
- Bleeding hearts love the shade, so they pair beautifully with hostas, lungwort, astilbe, or ferns.
- Bleeding heart plants bloom in the very early spring, so they are among the first blooms you can cut and bring indoors. Cut the stems as low as possible, place them in a tall pitcher, and enjoy a stunning flower arrangement for up to a week.
- Like many old fashioned flowers, bleeding heart plants are known for their symbolization. The traditional plants with red and pink flowers symbolize romance and love. Plants with white flowers (Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba’) represent purity.
- My plants are Dicentra spectabilis ‘Lady’s Locket’ and they have dark pink hearts that hang gracefully from an arching stem.
More Cultivars
- Dicentra eximia ‘Fringed Bleeding Heart’
- Dicentra cucullaria ‘Dutchman’s Breeches’
- Dicentra formosa ‘Pacific Bleeding Heart’
- Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’
FAQ’s
I don’t have any bleeding hearts at our current home, but I am definitely rectifying that mistake soon. If you have a shady spot in your garden, I highly recommend planting bleeding hearts. They are a stunning, reliable perennial that will reward you with graceful blooms year after year.
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Hi Kathy
I live in north central Maryland (Zone 7 I think) and last year, we built a new shade garden and relocated all of our plants to the new garden as we plan to re-do our deck. My bleeding hearts were large and had spread. We split them up and planted them in the new garden along with transplanted plants from my mother-in-laws garden. They all look beautiful this year. Good luck!
I’m glad to hear you had good luck transplanting bleeding hearts. Thank you for sharing!
Hi,
I totally agree with you about the Bleeding Heart plants. I have white plants that I have had for years and they really spread. After my Mother-in-law passed in 2019, I dug up some of her plants before we put the house on the market. She had pink bleeding hearts, which my mom had in her garden when I was growing up. I have added them to my shade garden and they have done beautifully. The pink plants and white plants mixed are real showstoppers in the spring. Thanks for this post because I think they are a plant that is not well known.
Have a good week! :-)
Our yard is heavily wooded , almost all shade and we live in a cool climate on the coast so I have difficulty finding many colorful plants that will grow and bloom. Hostas do no thrive but ferns grow like mad. I am going to try bleeding heart IF I can find them locally.
Beautiful. Trying to think of a shady place in my garden.
Also, I baked your box cake. The buttermilk and extra egg made a delicious moist cake. Thanks, Lucy
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I agree that it is delightful to see the beautiful blooms as signs of spring. I have successfully separated one of my large plants after it has finished flowering.
Your bleeding hearts are lovely! I adore these, too. Ours are getting taller every day and their cute little blooms are about ready to pop open. It seems as though they emerge with both their foliage and blossoms simultaneously. I had purchased two (2) two gallon pots for five dollars about ten years ago and they have thrived. I don’t think they were a prized hybrid, but they bring a lot of cheer. As another reader noted, they do self sow. It can be a bonus, but the new volunteers might have to be relocated to a spot where you want them. We live in northern New Jersey (zone 6) and the deer and rabbits here don’t care for them either!
Love the idea for pressing the flowers. I’ll have to give that a try this year.
I’m adding this to my plant list. I’m in Houston so hopefully it can withstand the hot humid summer.
I live in MT and it is hard to grow many plants because of the very frigid winters, but I did plant a bleeding heart many, many years ago and every year it doesn’t disappoint. It has just started peaking out of the ground and I can’t wait to see another year of pink hearts.
Thank you for the reminder of these wonderful plants! I love them. My mother had some beside our side door so they are precious to me. I have a shady yard. I should get some for sure.
I had bleeding hearts in our previous home.They are so pretty and delicate.Have not seen them available in central Florida.
We live in NE Florida, an hour south of Jacksonville, less than 2 miles from the ocean! planted from a cutting and it’s beautiful. West side of the house but shaded by palm trees! Stays green all year, loaded with flowers almost all summer.