CUTTING BACK BLEEDING HEART / DICENTRA SPECTABILIS

Cutting back Dicentra Spectabilis bleeding heart. One of the first perennials to bloom in spring. The beautiful pink heart-shaped baubles hanging from arched stems lights up normally dark areas of your garden. Even when the flowers have disappeared the clumps of delicate leaves are very attractive. Come August and especially in hotter climates the foliage goes very quickly from green to yellow and then brown as it goes dormant. So you need to get in there and cut it back (don't cut the foliage back until it is yellow - the green leaves are needed to provide nutrients to the plant and have it come back the following year bigger and better). Leave a crown about 2" above ground. The first year I plant them (from bare roots) I plant the bare roots in pots and then plant them in the ground when they are more established. After that first season there will be more than enough growth on the plants to survive any early slug damage in future years.
Hello, my name is Una and this is Granny’s Garden and I would love to share some tips and advice gained from years of experience with fellow gardening enthusiasts. So please join me every Friday on my journey to create and recover a very neglected garden.
I garden in a zone 6 in the mountains to the north of Madrid, Spain
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