Western Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa)
While there are many cultivars of Bleeding Heart on the market, our own West Coast native Bleeding Heart is gorgeous. Beautiful heart shaped light pink flowers bob merrily above elegant fern like leaves. Our native species is well adapted to the very wet Winter-Springs and bone dry Summers of the West Coast. It thrives in shade gardens with the rich loam or clay soil commonly found in forests. Bleeding Heart can spread aggressively via rhizomes when happy, but it weaves in and around other woodland plants into a tapestry of textures and colors rather than growing over plant neighbors. This trait makes it an excellent ground cover for shady corners, woodland gardens, and under taller perennials and shrubs.
Bleeding Heart prefers moist soil, but once established it is quite drought tolerant. It also has adapted a summer dormancy when moisture is scarce. Just like our other Spring ephemerals, when Bleeding Heart goes dormant it disappears from sight until the rains return in the Fall.
Each seed packet contains 30 seeds and germination instructions are included.
Western Bleeding Heart at a glance
- Average growth dimensions - 8-19 inches tall x 2+ wide
- Dormancy - Winter Deciduous / summer deciduous (drought adaptation)
- Plant type - Perennial herb
- Sun - Part shade - shade
- Water - Moist - dry
- Flowering time - March - August (with regular irrigation)
- Flower color - Light pink - pink
- Soil preference - Adaptable, but prefers soil rich in organic matter (loamy forest floors)