Common name: Bleeding Heart
Family: Fumariaceae, Fumitory
Height x width: 6'-36' x 12-18"
Growth rate: moderate
Foliage: dissected to deeply cut, compound, green or gray-green
Flowers: basal or long-branched racemes; white to red, distinctive shapes; spring to summer
Hardiness: zones 3-7, 8, 9
Soil: moist, rich
Light: part shade
Pests and problems: few
Landscape habit, uses: woodland, front to mid-border
Other interest: first plants of common bleeding heart introduced to England in 1840's from Japan by famous plant explorer Robert Fortune; flowers resemble bleeding hearts or upside down breeches (pants)
Other culture: may go dormant if dry out; divide after 3 years if needed
Propagation: sow fresh seed or warm/cold/warm stratify; 3-4" root cuttings in summer or fall; fall division
Species:
cucullaria(coo-coo-lair' ee-ah)--Dutchman's Breeches, zones 3-7, 6-12" x 12", creamy white flowers in spring with two upward spurs, native along East coast of U.S., gray-green dissected leaves
eximia(ex-im' ee-ah)--Fringed Bleeding Heart, zones 3-9, 9-18" x 18", rose-pink flowers in spring, gray-green fern-like foliage arising directly from rootstock as do flowers, U.S. east coast native, long branched flower stalks
formosa(for-moe' sa)--Pacific Bleeding Heart, west coast native version of eximia only more drought resistant and less tolerant of wet
spectabilis(spec-tah' bil-iss)--Common Bleeding Heart,
zones 2-8, 18-36" x 18", rose-pink outer and white inner petals in
spring
on arching stems, easily forced in pots indoors, largest leaves in
genus; reclassified by botanists as Lamprocapnos
spectabilis
Cultivars:
| Cultivar | species | flowers | foliage | |
| 'Adrian Bloom' | -- | ruby-red | bluish | |
| 'Alba':'Snowdrift' | eximia | |||
| alba | formosa | white | blue-green | |
| 'Alba' | spectabilis | white | green | |
| 'Bacchanal' | -- | deep wine | dark green | |
| 'Boothman's Variety': 'Stuart Boothman' | ||||
| 'Bountiful' | -- | rosy-red | finely cut green | |
| 'Langtrees' | -- | white | blue-green | |
| 'Luxuriant' | -- | cherry-red | blue-green | |
| 'Margery Fish' | -- | white | bluish | |
| 'Pantaloons' | spectabilis | white | green | |
| 'Pearl Drops' | -- | white tinged pink | blue-green | |
| 'Ruby Mar' | formosa | red | glaucous blue | |
| 'Silver Smith' | -- | white flushed pink | green | |
| 'Snowdrift' | eximia | pure white | green | |
| 'Snowflakes' | -- | creamy white | finely cut green | |
| 'Stuart Boothman' (Boothman's Variety) | red | |||
| 'Sweetheart' | -- | snow white | green | |
| 'Zestful' | -- | deep rose | blue-green |
©Authored by Dr. Leonard Perry, Professor, University of Vermont as part of PSS123 course.
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