Beautiful

Thanks Holly, I sure hope they come through this strange winter okay. I'm hoping for another baby that I can transplant over by my garden shed where there is a little shade from the afternoon sun.

'Bleeding Hearts" are one of my most fave perennials. It has been my experience that the Dicentra spectabilis are very hardy and so far long lived. (BUT the smaller newer varieties of dicentra have been terrible for me in terms of their vigour eg. "Burning Hearts", "Amore Rose" etc).

Here are pics taken in May 2016.

"Old Fashion" Dicentra spectabilis


Alba Dicentra spectabilis


"Valentine" Dicentra spectabilis


"Gold Heart" Dicentra spectabilis


I have on order for this spring a White Gold

(Here is a picture of WG taken from the TERRA NOVA website:)

A few of my BH's are showing but so far no sign of "Gold Heart". Hoping it will show soon.

Are these draws for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds?

UrbanWild said:Are these draws for bees, butterflies, hummingbirds?

This is an interesting question. I've never noticed them around mine... I'm curious now!

Neither have I.

More ladybugs this year than ever before!

OMG, after having a blizzard and then another massive snow storm last month, I have some amazing news and an important question for you all.

Before the blizzard, I covered my bleeding hearts (which had begun to show new growth above ground) with about 6 inches of pine needles, and then placed a plastic bell over them. Temps were due to drop WAAAAYYYY below freezing, and I didn't want the new growth to get frozen dead. After the storms, everything was completely covered in snow and I couldn't even see the tops of the bells.

Today, temps are nicely up in the 50's and a lot of that snow is melted. So I removed the bells and pulled back the pine needles and OMG! My bleeding hearts have continued to sprout new growth and it's now about 5 inches tall! Looking very juicy, healthy and so beautiful!

So that's the wonderful news. Now the question is, if temps drop again, should I cover them with the bells? We're due for some 31F nights here and there over the coming weeks, but there are no frost warnings. I'm confused as to when I need to leave them alone and when I need to step in. And forgive my ignorance, but I really don't understand what constitutes a frost or a frost warning. I would be very grateful if someone could define that for me.

Thanks in advance.

Here they are survivors. I wouldn't cover them again. Somehow they live and thrive. This one planted itself in this spot, never gets any special care and expands year after year.

I'm happy to say that the first blossoms of the season are beginning to show themselves. I absolutely love watching them develop. This one (I have two, the other is much younger and was planted from a bare root) is becoming a real beast. Funny how something so delicate in appearance can be so vital and strong!

Mine are barely out of the ground! So looking forward to seeing them flourish again this year.

Mine are up and blooming but didn't take any pictures yet. I was cleaning up around one of them. Lambs Ear came in the pot with the bleeding heart from a friend. I was ripping out the lambs ear and broke off a stem of the bleeding heart. I have it in water in the kitchen. Will it grow roots or should I just plant it in the dirt? Any suggestions are welcome.