Bleeding Heart that blooms 3 seasons??

Help!! Can anyone help me find and identify a Bleeding Heart that will bloom in Spring, Summer and Fall.

Deann

deann I have a fernleaf one that blooms all summer! Is that the one your looking for?

That's the one. 'Luxuriant' is a very long bloomer, supposed to bloom from June to October. I have found 'Bacchanal' a long bloomer also, but this was my first year with it. I have a white one that seems to be a very long bloom too. I will try to find the name if you need it.

echoes

Dori......I really don't know much about it other then it blooms all summer into fall......Can I have a "slip" of that?? What color is it?? And after the New Year I will be coming to Saginaw to shop and will pick up my stuff from you.....Thanks Dori....and Have a Happy New Year to you and Dale....

Deann

echoes......What color is the one you call "Bacchanal"?? I just always thought that Bleeding Heart blooms in late spring....sure getting an education here.....It just amazes me of the wonderful informed and talented individuals here at Dave's.....You folks are the best!

Deann'

The fernleaf's all come in varying shades of pink or white. Most of the varieties available are hybrids between Dicentra eximia and D. formosa.(also formosa ssp. oregana, but that's probably too much info) The big one that blooms in spring and goes dormant in the heat of summer is D. spectablis. They have a clear pink/white or all white flower. Fernleaf foliage is much finer, often with a blue-gray cast, depending on it's parentage. In one of my books it says the fomosa is the longest blooming. 'Bacchanal' I would describe as a dark rose. There are many to try. The best one to start with would probably be the one someone is willing to share with you.

Getting an education here myself, Echoes. I have grown the D. spectablis and the alba, as well as the fernleaf. I think the blooming period may vary depending on climate. my spectablis blooms in the spring, early summer, then has a few blooms later on. Our summers are very mild here, so the foliage stays green all summer. It is a huge plant and gets about 4 ft. tall in full sun.

To some extent for me too, but I didn't think spectablis would stay green there. Sometimes it reblooms here, but that would mean we didn't have a very hot summer. The fernleaf bloom a lot longer.

My spectablis stays green from spring to fall, only dying back when it freezes. It only throws a few blooms in the fall, as compared to all the blooms in the spring. This bleeding heart is probably about 10 years old. I think these perennials tend to live longer in our milder weather, as well. I've had less experience with the fernleaf variety. I had one in a very shady spot and it didn't do very well. I plan to get some starts from a friend in the spring and try again. I've never tried any of the Dicentra cultivars... can they be started from cuttings or do you need root cuttings?

I think you need root cuttings, although I've had Luxuriant reseed where it's happy. Then you have to remember which is the real one. The fernleaf are easier to divide if you want to, the spectablis has such brittle roots, I hate to disturb them. There is a home in town that has spectablis that have been there for many years with no attention and they are still spectacular in the early summer. I keep buying different cultivars trying to get a really dark cherry colour, but you don't always get what they say. My next quest is 'Bountiful', supposed to be a pretty light pink.

Here are some of the divided roots of my D. spectablis. I divided it in 2002, and got over 20 starts from it. I saved a big chunk and replanted it. This year it was back to its original size. There are some strange chunks of root on this plant, but they seemed to re-root relatively easily.

You had one big plant there. It probably does better if you divide them rather than try to move them in one piece when they're big. I think that's what I did wrong the first time. I am finding the white ones faster growing and more vigorous, but I haven't divided one yet.

I found the alba to be less hardy here, but maybe it was not as well established. I've lost two of them so far, but this spectablis is very hardy.

Weez & Echoes......I very well may have the common Bleeding heart, which blooms once....and actually the plant has never grown much in size. It produces beautiful arching sprays of blooms, and then will have foliage in a soft blue green for the rest of the summer, only blooming once........Sorta just sits in the spot I put it in 4 years ago....maybe its time to move it to complete shade....However, the Luxuriant to my understanding is a hybrid and the heirloom type. The common Bleeding Heart was grown by our grandmothers.....I always thought this was the only kind of Bleeding heart there was. Again, am I getting an education here on perennials...I love this room!



Deann

Deann, it's interesting to hear that yours stays green all summer, as well. I assume your summers get pretty hot. It's unusual for Seward, Alaska to reach 80 degrees on a summer day... 70's are a norm. In defense of the old varieties, I think they may be more winter hardy than the cultivars. That is usually the case.

I've definitely found the pink to be hardier than the white. The fernleaf winters over quite well at my friends house, and it self-seeds. I believe she has two varieties. One is sterile and the other throws seed, so one is probably a hybrid. Every spring I forget to beg some babies from her!