Hearts And Flowers

Day 194: When I first moved here, I planted Asian Bleeding-heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) in a bad location, bad because I often broke the fragile stems when doing yard work. Eventually, the plant succumbed, and when I replaced it, I put the new one in a less trafficked spot where it has done quite well for over a decade, keeping company with maidenhair fern and other shade-lovers. It thrives in moist soil, but it also tolerates the drier conditions late summer brings. Hummingbirds are drawn to it, as are bees and butterflies. "Spectabilis" means "showy," giving rise to another common name for the plant, Showy Bleeding-heart.

Hearts And Flowers

Day 217: Asian Bleeding-heart (a commercial hybrid) delivers hearts and flowers around Mother's Day here in the Pacific Northwest, larger and brighter than those of the native species. The plant itself is rather delicate in that the watery stems break easily, so place it somewhere it is not likely to be damaged. I learned this lesson the hard way shortly after moving here, but after I moved the plant to a north-side flower bed and set it back from the border where it could spread, it has done quite well. Hummingbirds are drawn to the bright pink flowers, but the main pollinators of bleeding-hearts, whether native or non-native, are the long-tongued butterflies and bees. While it is now regarded as the sole member of the genus Lamprocapnos (L. spectabilis), it may also be listed under the synonym Dicentra.

Bleeding-Hearts

Day 202: Before you even think about saying it, yes, they're pink, but who doesn't love Bleeding-hearts? These are Lamprocapnos spectabilis, Asian Bleeding-heart, a cultivated species separate from our wild Bleeding-heart, Dicentra formosa. But back to that opening statement. While it's not 100% by any means, it has struck me over the years that at least here in the lower altitudes of the Pacific Northwest, blooming periods tend to be dominated by one or two colours. First, we have daffodils and dandelions. Yellows give way to pinks and red in character of Bleeding-hearts, Red-flowered Currant and the early azaleas and rhododendrons. Pink is followed by blue delphiniums in the garden and camas on the prairies, a touch of purple creeping in around the edges. Lastly come the whites, as if Mother Nature had exhausted her palette. She scrapes at the corners for elusive touches of tint, applies them sparingly if at all. When summer closes, she's had time to make a trip to the store and goes hog-wild on autumn foliage instead of flowers, holding back her whole range of blues for that pure and rare September sky.

Bleeding-Hearts, Wild And Tame

Day 213: Sigh. I hadn't planned this post to be another essay on taxonomy (and I'll keep this portion brief), but Bleeding-Hearts, wild and tame, have been a subject of some debate for some time. The waters seem to have reached their own levels at this point, or at least I hope so. Our wild Pacific Bleeding-Heart (left) is still classified as Dicentra formosa, but the Asian Bleeding-Heart (right), coveted for the colour it adds to the shade garden, has been renamed Lamprocapnos spectabilis, although it is still marketed as Dicentra in many places. The native plant bears significantly smaller flowers in a single panicle, as opposed to the horizontal racemes of Lamprocapnos, many of which branch from the main stem and justify the "spectabilis" portion of the scientific name quite admirably. Both have brittle root systems, and thus should not be moved once they are established. Hummingbirds are attracted to the pink flowers and may assist pollination, but the chief pollinators of either type of plant are long-tongued butterflies and bees. Abundant in the forests of my childhood, Pacific Bleeding-Heart is not seen as frequently now, and I feel a slight sense of guilt for all the "hearts" I popped in my youth. If only we had had bubble-wrap in those days!

Native Bleeding-Heart

Day 213: On May 5, I posted a photo of the commercially-cultivated Asian Bleeding-Heart in my garden and mentioned that it is both larger and more colourful than our native variety. They bear the same species name, Lamprocapnos spectabilis (formerly Dicentra spectabilis), but I suspect there is subspecies nomenclature I have not been able to unearth. This charming plant is easy to grow, but prefers a shady or semi-shady site where its roots will be kept cool and moist. The stems and roots are fragile, so once you've planted your Bleeding-Hearts, don't disturb them and they will reward you for many years to come.

Bleeding-Heart flowers have a unique physiology. Each blossom is composed of four petals. The two outer ones form the pink "heart" which gives them their common name. The inner two petals are the pointy bit which projects from the bottom of the heart. These petals fully enclose the reproductive structures of the flower and never open. The flower is cleistogamous, i.e., it self-pollinates within the confines of these petals and never requires a visit from an external pollinator.

A Hearty Welcome To May

Day 204: Who doesn't love Bleeding Hearts? When I first moved into my home thirty years ago, I planted a commercial cultivar, Asian Bleeding-Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis, formerly Dicentra spectabilis), not realizing that the stems were extremely fragile. Unfortunately, I had put it in a bad spot and invariably broke some portion of it almost every time I walked by. It survived this mistreatment for couple of years, but eventually failed to return. Lesson learned, I waited until I had created a more protected bed for a new one which, I am happy to say, is thriving between other shade-loving plants. Lamprocapnos bears much larger and richly coloured hearts than our Pacific Bleeding-Heart (a sub-species), a show-piece in the early spring shade garden.