Dicentras.

Hi A comparison between the red and the white versions - common names Bleeding heart and Little lady i n her bath. The smaller ones are also nice.

 

Hi Eileen. Yes for myself also I have found over the years the white is not as tough or reliable as the red although it is one of the very first herbaceous plants to show through in spring with me. Even so they are both so very lovely that if you replaced them every year with a new one t'would be worth it I think. Had a very nice smaller (spreading) one about 12 inches tall for years called Dicentra formosa which I see now has a yellow foliaged version of it - theres a few other smaller ones. Syd.

 

Sadly I have lost both my red and white dicentras so it is lovely to see your beautiful photos.

 

Hi all, Syd: thanks for your photos! My dicentras are only 10" tall so far, so it is nice to see the flowers!
I have both the red & white version of dicentras & have also found the red to be hardier. I have divisions of the red in several places now in my garden.

I have the wild version of the 12" dicentra & it tends to travel about the garden. I keep it because it has such a long bloom time & is a good source of cut flowers.

 

Hi CM. Hope you are well. The Dicentras are the sort of plants that if you have the space have them in several places to meet as you walk about. I found the smaller one also to be a real spreader and so kept it contained within dwarf stone walls - i.e two outcrops, one either side of some steps down to the grass. I also noted over many years Dicentras root systems are as brittle as glass and need very careful handling and gentle planting from a pot in a root ball. They seem for me to grow happily (mostly but I have lost them) in sun or shade - I think the preference though is for a light shade.

 

Those are gorgeous. I have the red one and it is huge. They grow so fast.

 

Sidney--I particularly like the dicentras because our dear dreaded deer do not seem to go for them! Gives me a break from having to protect them.

 

Hi CM. I know the problem well . Between the woods and the semi wild area here there is only a low fence which the Deer jump easily. Having had everything in the way of perennials eaten off I gave up and just let it stay natural - left the shrubs round the sides and let the wildies come up - still keep it mowed now and then though. The trees I planted down the centre have guards round their trunks and lower branches. There is a tall fence between that part and the main garden. Syd.