When you garden with ecology in mind, choosing plants becomes less about you and more about the local birds, mammals, and invertebrates that could benefit from your latest addition. Here, Melissa Starkey shares about wild bleeding heart, one of her favorite underappreciated native plants to grow.
Watch: Super Cool Plants Podcast | Underappreciated Native Plants
Wild bleeding heart
- Name: Dicentra eximia
- Zones: 3–9
- Size: 12 to 18 inches tall and wide
- Conditions: Partial shade; moist, rich, well-drained soil
- Native range: Appalachian region of the Eastern United States
This plant is extremely close to my heart because I remember seeing it growing wild in Pennsylvania when I was a child. A great alternative to nonnative common bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis and cvs., Zones 3–9), it produces its best flush of heart-shaped flowers in spring but keeps blooming through the entire growing season, even as late as November here at Mt. Cuba Center. Wild bleeding heart also has fernlike foliage, which has a kind of blush tinge.
An underappreciated native plant for woodland gardens
But all its aesthetic qualities aside, wild bleeding heart is incredibly hardworking and adaptable. It can grow in partial shade and makes an excellent woodland plant. This plant also does quite well out in the sun; it grows naturally on rocky, sunny outcrops. I have seen it growing right out of rocks in the wild. While it does adapt well, its unique flowers require larger pollinators, like bumblebees, that are strong enough to force themselves through its tight petals.
Wild bleeding heart is a bit smaller than common bleeding heart, but it does not go dormant like its nonnative relatives, giving you three seasons of interest. If pink flowers aren’t to your taste, there is a white cultivar available called ‘Alba’ (D. eximia ‘Alba’, Zones 3–9).
Learn more from Melissa about this plant on Fine Gardening’s podcast, Super Cool Plants, or watch the episode on our YouTube channel!
Melissa Starkey is the marketing and communications manager and an instructor at Mt. Cuba Center, a botanical garden in Hockessin, Delaware.
Dicentra photo courtesy of Mt. Cuba Center.
See More:
Best Native Plants for Your Region
See More Super Cool Plants Podcast Episodes
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