Many seasoned gardeners agree; no garden would be complete without the quintessential Bleeding Heart.
For generations, this fairytale flower has been the focal point for numerous garden designs.
Glenna Blair Rieppel, a consummate gardener from Pennsylvania, remembers a story passed down from her grandmother.
Delicately disassembling the flower and describing what everyone got for Christmas.
The bleeding hearts scientific name isDicentra spectabilisand is often referred to as the old fashioned or Japanese bleeding heart.
Neither of the Americas plants are as large or spectacular.
Use other shade-loving plants likehostas, brunnera and hellebores to combine with bleeding hearts in the part shade garden.
The plant will often naturalize in a woodland setting and is used in cut flower arrangements as well.
The fringed bleeding heart grows about 12-18 tall and has fine cut foliage with a long bloom season.
The foliage is less deeply cut than other bleeding hearts but has the same, graceful feel.
For a more efficient solution, prune the plant back after it finishes flowering.
The trimmed plant is then encouraged to emit lush green foliage through the fall.
