Fern Leaf Bleeding Heart

Hi,

I have bought a few fern leaf bleeding heart roots. I planted them in pots and have a couple that have put up shoots. I was hoping to overwinter them in my garage and have them for next spring. We have had a pretty warm Oct. here in Oregon.

I thought I would ask to see if anyone would know. Should I go ahead and put them out in the light now that they have sprouted. Or, will they be ok keeping them in the dark in my garage? I know typically once plant sprout they get tall and leggy if they dont get light. Any info appreciated

Thanks

I would put them outside for a while, yet. Hard to say exactly how cold to let them get in a pot, but if they see the days getting shorter and feel it getting cold they ought to go dormant again.
If they do not go dormant, you may have to find a brighter place for them. I think, ultimately they will grow outdoors year round in your area? It is just this first winter, when they have been dormant, and are now trying to grow. Gotta get them back on track with the real seasons.

Portland is zone 8 or thereabouts. Hard to believe it would be necessary to winter them in a garage, as opposed leaving the pots outdoors, as fernleaf bleeding hearts are hardy at least to zone 2. In other words, cold hardiness should not be a problem. I could see waterlogging, that is, winter wet, potentially being a concern, so it would be wise to ensure that the pots have drainage.

Ok, thanks so much.

I will put them outdoors. This is my first go around with these plants so not sure what to do really. I just read online to overwinter them, but then they dont always state all the info about temps. Typically Oregon is pretty warm compared to other states in the winter, and I have a greenhouse going up soon. I can keep them out of the rain so they don't get drenched and the pots do have good drainage.

Thanks for the info.

Looks like Portland is almost as mild as my zone, here in CA.
You can look up your zone here:
http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/#

I would winter these outside, in the ground, plant them where you want them to grow. But if you want to grow them in pots, that is OK, too. Plants in pots can get colder than plants in the soil- soil is a bit of an insulator.

so i move my bleeding hearts out of my garage several months ago, but we had quite a bit of rain so I placed them in my greenhouse instead of outside. There seems to be a problem though and not sure why, but every time a new shoot comes up it only grows about an inch or two, stem turns black and then dies. Looks like dampening off, but the other leaves are still ok. They have not grown much at all since I moved them. Not sure what to do. Any suggestions of why this is happening?

I don't know what is happening to the new growth, but here is what I would do- plant them where you want them now. When you take them out of the pot take a look at the roots, see if there are grubs or anything eating them. Once in the ground, mother nature should take care of any pest problems. Fern leaf bleeding hearts do not seem to have any problems like you are describing, around here, when grown in the ground.

hi, thanks for responding. These will remain in pots, they will not be going into the ground. I did dig one out of the pot that was not growing and the roots look fine. It was planted a little low and has not made it to the surface yet.

I did speak with a nursery here today, and they said that they may not like the greenhouse and to put them outside. So, that is what I have done. I have not seen this happen before with other plants, but this is my first year growing bleeding heart. And, everyone says like you that they are not known to have problems. Strange all the new shoots just die. They are outside now so hope this works. Appreciate the response.

how are they doing?

So far so good. There are some new shoots that are about an inch tall, and they have not died. Looks like it was getting too much sun in the greenhouse.