Dicentra Candy Hearts

Dicentra Candy Hearts is a compact and dwarf perennial with elegant, finely cut, blue-grey-green foliage and curved inflorescences adorned with pendulous, heart-shaped flowers ranging from cherry-red to pink, with white tips, contrasting nicely with the foliage. It is a woodland plant which thrives in moist to wet soils in shade or partial shade and enlivens borders or sheltered terraces with its long, late spring flowering.

Dicentra Candy Hearts belongs to the Papaveraceae family (Fumariaceae). It is a hybrid resulting from cross-breeding between Dicentra eximia and D. peregrina. Its first parent is native to the eastern United States, and the second to Japan, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and northern Siberia via Kamchatka. It forms a compact clump with a spread of 25-30 cm (10-12in) or more at maturity. Bleeding heart is a deciduous plant that spreads through trailing rhizomes, allowing it to expand under favourable conditions. The very soft grey-green-blue, powdery, finely-cut foliage is absent in winter. Small, heart-shaped flowers gracefully hang along the arching stems from May to July.

Dicentra Candy Hearts prefers moist soil in shade, or partial shade with morning sun, under trees or bushes with which it doesn't mind competing. If continuous flowering is desired, keep the soil moist in summer. It can be paired with other perennials that can also withstand competition from tree or shrub roots. Accompany it with Solomon's Seal, Hardy Fuchsias, Creeping Bugle in purple, Japanese Anemones, and a carpet of Periwinkles, for example.