Bleeding Heart 'Valentine'

Graceful and romantic yet easy care and vigorous. Dicentra ‘Valentine’ is a gem for the shade garden. The flowers open freely from late spring on long, arching stems (October-December).
Dicentra ‘Valentine’ holds the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit so you know it is easy care and will look good. They also make special cut flowers.

Dicentra ‘Valentine’ was discovered in Canada as a chance seedling and thanks to Phyllis and Lyle Sarrazin who recognised its significance, it went into cultivation.

It is the extended, white petals that give Dicentra the common name of Bleeding Hearts. It is also known as Dutchman's Breeches because the large petals resemble the old fashioned Dutch trousers, seen during the Tesselaar Tulip Festival. Each flower is 2-3cm long. The blooms are suitable for picking.

Bleeding Hearts are low maintenance plants ideal for a shade or woodland garden; morning sun, part shade or filtered light. Plant in cool, humus rich, moist, well drained soil, they tend to rot in boggy soils over winter. They grow well with Hostas, Ferns and similar plants. Incidentally, the leaves of the Hostas can be useful as a foil for the fading Bleeding Heart foliage as it goes into dormancy in the heat of summer. This dormancy can be delayed with a bit of extra watering, and you can enjoy the foliage up to early autumn. Water well in active growth.

New foliage emerges in spring. Oh and rabbits seem to avoid it (as do deer) which is good news for many.