This year I am growing bleeding hearts in my wildflower garden because I think the spring-blooming heart-shaped flower is pretty and that it will attract hummingbirds.
I
am very excited to be adding the bleeding heart to my wildflower garden this
year. The garden bed gets early morning sun with part-shade in the heat of the
day plus the soil is well drained as the garden sits up on a slight hill.
When
the bleeding hearts stop blooming in late spring the other flowers will start to bloom. Lasting beauty throughout the growing
season. I will be growing the bleeding hearts
as a border plant in the front of the garden.
My
neighbor grows bleeding hearts in a partial shade spot by her pond and also grows in a
container next to the border of her patio.
The bleeding Hearts grow well in USDA zones 3-9. It is best to grow bleeding hearts where they
get morning sun and afternoon part-shade.
They also grow best in well-drained soil. If the soil is too wet then the roots will
rot.
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| border planting / bleeding hearts |
My garden bed soil is rich as we amend the soil yearly with Miracle-Gro Expand and Gro mix. This potting mix can be used in in-ground garden beds or in containers and can expand up to three times its size when water is added. What I like is this soil is formulated to feed plants for up to six months and can hold up to 50% more water than basic potting soil. Which means you water your gardens less.
You
can plant bleeding hearts from seed or from a nursery-grown container. Either way plant after the threat of frost
has passed.
Seeds
should be planted a half inch deep, then water well and keep the soil moist but
not wet until germination Then I would
recommend watering the seedlings so that the soil does not dry out and pull
away from the stem. Normally I mist my
seedlings in the morning and the afternoon.
When
fully grown the bleeding hearts will be up to 30 inches tall with a similar
spread. They will bloom in late spring then
the foliage will turn yellow and the plant will die back. In early summer you would prune them.
My
neighbor never cuts her bleeding heart plant back she lets it die back naturally and allows the spent flowers with
the seeds to fall and naturalize so that she has more blooms the following
year.
I
do cut back my wildflower garden in late summer, and I will apply a layer of
mulch. I will continue to water the
garden where bleeding hearts are planted until there is a hard frost.
