Clusters of the “King of Hearts” flowers will bloom over the compact mounds of lacy foliage for many weeks in the cool spring season, and bloom again when the temperatures cool down in the fall. ((Photo by Ginny Rosenkranz)
April brings spring flowers long before May warms things up, so the spring flowers are often more cold-hardy.
The tiny but beautiful hybrid, Dicentra “King of Hearts” features heart shaped rose red flowers and powdery blue green fern like foliage.
Each bright flower perches at the top of its stem with the rounded petals shaped like a heart and two white edged wings that flair up and out under the heart.
A tiny dangling extension, which can look like a drop of blood, gives this plant its common name of Bleeding Hearts.
Clusters of the “King of Hearts” flowers will bloom over the compact mounds of lacy foliage for many weeks in the cool spring season, and bloom again when the temperatures cool down in the autumn.
The soft colored mounds of foliage emerge in early spring, growing 10-12 inches tall and 15 inches wide, thriving in part to full shade and rich, moist, acidic soils. An addition of an inch of mulch will help keep the soil cool and help maintain the soil moisture.
The delicately fringed leaves start out bright green, mature to a softer blue green, and graces the shady garden all through the growing season. Neither deer nor bunnies will nibble on these plants because all parts of the plants are toxic.
The “King of Hearts” should be placed at the front of a shade garden or along a path where it can reign as a king without completion for its roots.
(Editor’s Note: Ginny Rosenkranz is a commercial horticulture specialist with the University of Maryland Extension.)
