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sherrygirl5

Everblooming bleeding heart, yeah!

This is an eye catcher in the garden. It does bloom off and on for several months. I love the chartreuse in the spring!

Sherry

Comments (52)

  • 11 years ago

    Looks like "Gold Heart". Just a gorgeous color this time of year. Thanks 'Sherry'

  • 11 years ago

    I think you are right about "gold heart". It is advertised as everblooming. The foliage holds also holds up better than the green varieties. Thanks for the help with the name!

    Sherry

  • 11 years ago

    Oh, I bought Gold Heart last year. Have not seen it bloom yet, but it will soon. I didn't know that it was everblooming, or that the foliage lasted longer. That's a plus: the color is quite a spark where I have it. How long have you had yours?

  • 11 years ago

    I don't believe it. I have it and it didn't bloom all season.

  • 11 years ago

    I love this dicentra. The foliage color is spectacular and it is bloom now until the end of May. It also goes dormant much later than the species, for me around end of July. I grow it with heucheras of various foliage colors and it is a very striking combination.

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    The dormancy of these dicentra spectabilis seems to be very much dependent on the climate and specific location of the plant. For example with sufficient shade and moisture I have had mine retain healthy foliage and so be visible all summer.

  • 11 years ago

    I agree, everblooming is a stretch. However, mine does put out flowers sporadically through the summer. It has been in my yard for about 10 years but has not gotten as big as the species. It seems to take a little sun here with no problem.

    Sherry

  • 11 years ago

    I have one of these and I LOVE it. In a mostly shady spot it stands out so well - almost illuminates. It did bloom a few times for me, too, but whats more impressive about it is that it stays that color for months before it starts to die back. So wonderful. I love this one.


  • 11 years ago

    I remember posting several years ago if it was feasible to reduce the overall size of BH (spectabilis) by say...slicing out some of the 'tuber' in the Fall. And much to my annoyance Ken_Adrian replied something to the effect that if you don't want it that big then you shouldn't have planted it or just remove it. Well looking back now he was right. I love these plants and I put up with the too large size....my fault. Here are some of mine from today. At last count I have probably 5 of various varieties. The largest is even now almost 4 feet wide and it will continue to expand this season.



    sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
  • 11 years ago

    Mine are still very young. It's hard to imagine them (the standard variety) getting to 4 feet, though that would be fine where they are. Are they less likely to achieve that in drier shade?

    I just got my Gold Heart last year and I am really enjoying it. Do you all think that does not achieve the same spread? That's in an area with more moisture. I'm tempted to get another for a different bed, but should not if it will get as wide as the species.

    I love the white. It seems hard to find. I have a tiny one I bought bare root at a garden fair 3 years ago. It is finally blooming...and I realize in that time that a nearby hosta has grown at a much faster rate than expected. It will be overshadowed when the hosta finishes leafing out. I need to move it but I am afraid of killing it.

  • 11 years ago

    rouge21.....yours are just lovely! so wonderful to see them so large! gotta plant some!

  • 11 years ago

    Ok, because of you guys, I bought the yellow leaved dicentra (I might post the official name later as it is dark out). The last one I had bloomed then never came back the next summer. Fingers crossed as this is such an elegant plant!

  • 10 years ago

    I've never had much luck with dicentra although I still love them. The chartreuse is stunning but I'm a bit of a wimp about vibrate foliage.

    rogue21 the setting of the white flowering one is wonderful. Truly picture perfect!

  • 10 years ago

    My other two bleeding hearts, a white and 'Valentine" are blooming but no sign of the three year old 'Golden Heart'. May have lost it but will wait awhile before digging in the area in case it is just late.

  • 10 years ago

    I don't have this one, but it's now on the list. I have scattered a bunch of white back in the shade beds, but this would be a nice one in the beds closer to the house. I have a pink spectabilis that has "moved" itself halfway under my back deck. Maybe it likes really, really cool, roots? I'll have to take a picture of it when it gets to full size as it is probably 6-7' across. Engulfs everything in the bed. I usually prune back a lot of the lower stems so it doesn't smother everything. I was expecting the height for where I planted it, but certainly not that kind of width.

  • 10 years ago

    Engulfs everything in the bed. I usually prune back a lot of the lower stems so it doesn't smother everything.

    I too have similar specimen. I am often trimming back branches during the spring to keep it in check. How about each of us post a picture of our too large BH when they are at their largest!

  • 10 years ago

    Sounds good, Rouge! I've never measured it across, but maybe this year I will.

    I picked up three 'Gold Heart' today, among lots of other things.........Nhbabs and I did some major nursery hopping today. Oh, then when Barb and I were waking around my garden I found a 'Gold Heart' that I must have forgotten I planted last year! Always room for more!

  • 10 years ago

    Nhbabs and I did some major nursery hopping today.

    It is so fun flitting to and fro from nursery to nursery this time of year.

  • 10 years ago

    It would be interesting to see a really big one...considering I planted 10 just this year! It would be hard to plan on something that big, that then goes dormant.

  • 10 years ago

    Here is my Goldheart this year. It's about 24" in diameter and gave me a volunteer this spring. The foliage stays nice on mine most of the summer. None of my dicentra had a very heavy bloom this spring I'm guessing the really warm weather in March and then several days in April wth the low temp in the 20's didn't help

    My volunteer
    Sherry

  • 10 years ago

    The 'gold' foliage with the blue below is striking.

    sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked rouge21_gw (CDN Z5b/6a)
  • 10 years ago

    Yes! What is the blue below it? Beautiful!

    sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked User
  • 10 years ago

    Pretty sure the blue below are ajuga blooms. "Black Scallop" or "Chocolate Chip"

    I have a question about the "Gold Heart" dicentra though...how can i prevent it from turning green?! Mine has gone totally green; it looks no different from my other plain bleeding heart. It was in full shade...I've sinced moved it into late afternoon sun to see if that will affect the colour, but it's too soon to tell.

  • 10 years ago

    I would very much like that if it had white flowers...but for me, I really cannot do gold/limes with anything in the reds or pink spectrum. Honestly makes me feel nauseous - the worst colour combination on the entire spectrum. And I discovered this how? By idiotically planting 2 massive roses which dominate my(tiny) garden wall : the yellow (Graham Thomas) and pink (madame Gregoire Staechelin)...and impossible to remove without huge upheaval. Fortunately, the pink is early and once blooming and a vicious late pruning of the yellow means only a 2 week overlap where I literally train my eyes to avoid that direction.

    Gold/chartreuse with purple on the other hand...lush.

  • 10 years ago

    I would very much like that if it had white flowers.

    Campanula, I want to keep you happy so your wish is my command:

    White Gold Bleeding Heart

  • 10 years ago

    My Gold Heart doesnt get much sun, it stays color fast. That is ajuga growing in front on my pic.

    Sherry

  • 10 years ago

    "cannot do gold/limes with anything in the reds or pink spectrum". I admit, though I bought 2 (a second just last year), I am not keen on that combo either. That made me hesitate to buy Goldheart for several years. But now I like the foliage enough to deal with the pink. Whereas with my old fashioned bleeding hearts, I love the flowers. I will have to keep my eyes out for the white one.

    sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked linnea56 (zone 5b Chicago)
  • 10 years ago

    They sure brighten a shady area nicely... without the blooms. This patch was at the local civic garden center.

    sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Nevermore44 - 6a
  • 10 years ago

    Thanks for that picture 'Never'.

    It reminds me of a mass planting of the white flowered dicentra I saw at a university. It was gorgeous.

  • 10 years ago

    OMG it has swooped to the top of the list. Cripes,even though I will have to dip into my purse and spend hard cash on one. Normally, this gardener with short arms and deep pockets avoids fancy cultivars (plus, any plants which survive my 'care' from seeds have obviously passed through a test of fire and are proven durable )...but every so often, one comes along which I really, really would like.

  • 10 years ago

    ha... I have both the common and the gold variety at home too. The blooms don't hang around too long anyway for me to be insulted by the flower color. The chartreuse foliage though hangs around all summer and does help break up the other shade plants. Variegated foliage of hostas and solomon's seal only goes so far.

  • 10 years ago

    Here's my small shade garden with the Golden bleeding heart popping around the trunk. It does grow slower then the standard variety.. so I do hack back the standard a few times a year or it would cover the Golden.


    sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Nevermore44 - 6a
  • 10 years ago

    Love that area 'Never'. More and more I like shady gardens...I think that is a sign of my maturing as a gardener? ;)

  • 10 years ago

    rouge21, beautiful garden pic. what's the blue flowers in your pic below the dicentra?

  • 10 years ago

    I've had Gold Heart for years and it has never rebloomed and foliage doesn't persist any longer than any of the other spectabilis.

  • 10 years ago

    'bella' , I think you might be referring to good old "Forget Me Not".

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I've never measured it across, but maybe this year I will.

    I am probably going to throw in the trowel re. our 'contest'. Because of poor space planning I will need to aggressively prune now. Take a look at all that is cheek to jowl.

    As 'Ken' would say, a "rookie mistake".

    Surrounding it are a "Jack Frost" Brunnera, an astilbe in the front, a "Tuff Stuff" Hydrangea and a Ligularia

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Having a tiny garden, I have been an inveterate stuffer my entire gardening life. Even now, with 5 acres, I plant closely, covering minuscule amounts of space. Staking is never required and neither is mulching. True, it can be brutally Darwinian in survival of the fittest (thuggiest).

  • 10 years ago

    Ken is almost always right! I say "almost" because there must surely be at least one incidence of him being wrong, maybe?

  • 10 years ago

    Ken is almost always right!

    Wow. You are drunk on the Ken coolaid.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Sounds good, Rouge! I've never measured it across, but maybe this year I will.

    Do it now T2d :).

    I just got in from the garden with my tape measure. Our oldest garden variety BH is 5.5. feet across and 3 feet in height.

    With the flowering in decline I will begin trimming it sometime this weekend.

  • 10 years ago

    Sadly, my Gold Heart did not return. No sign of roots left in the hole.


  • 10 years ago

    Campanula, what do you think about "Sulphur Hearts"?


    SULPHUR

  • 9 years ago

    UPDATE:

    OMG it has swooped to the top of the list.

    Campanula, just reminding you to keep an eye out for that "White Gold" dicentra. I want one also but so far I have only seen it (in Canada) on a pricey mail order nursery.

  • 9 years ago

    Oh, I have been...to no avail whatsoever. Still, even the plain old 'alba' will be welcome in my woodland garden.

  • 9 years ago

    Campanula, I was able to reserve a "White Gold" :). Something to look forward to.

  • 9 years ago

    Well done, you! Looking forward to the photies.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    rouge21, what are the blue flowers on your first photo above?

    https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/4022c4da0559d047_9-9395/home-design.jpg

    Last year I planted my first dicentra, both pink and white, but couldn't think of too many companions, except for bulbs, and these blue flowers on your photo are wonderful. At first I thought it's some kind of forget-me-nots, but I could be wrong.

  • 9 years ago

    vesfl, they are 'wild' Forget Me Knots.