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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I lived in Maryland and had beautiful bleeding heart plants.Now, living in South Florida, I don’t think they will work. Your post brought back wonderful memories!
Hi Ann,
I too have bleeding hearts in the garden on the north side of our house. I started with one pink and one white, pink has now taken over and white plant now blooms pink. Had that happen with Iris as well. Anyway, I have never split them, but they will seed new plants. What started as two is now six with no help from anyone other than mother nature. Thanks for sharing the post!
I remember as a little girl, going to my grandma’s house and seeing Bleeding Hearts growing there. I loved them! I planted 2 “bedraggled” plants last fall. They are growing nicely with welcome blooms this spring. I never thought to cut them to enjoy inside. Thank you for that tidbit. I’m having a couple friends over for dinner tomorrow and hope to have a few in a vase for everyone to enjoy!