Wild Bleeding Heart

Dicentra formosa Aurora

• Position: full sun or partial shade
• Soil: moist, humus-rich, preferably neutral to slightly alkaline
• Rate of growth: average
• Flowering period: May to August
• Hardiness: fully hardy
  
  A fast-growing, dwarf perennial with arching stems of creamy white, heart-shaped flowers from late spring to late summer. The blue-green, fern-like foliage forms a soft mound, and is a lovely foil to other plants. Easy to grow, it looks great planted en masse as a groundcover at the front of a shady border or as part of a cottage garden scheme. As long as the ground is kept moist, it will thrive in full sun or partial shade. 

  
  Dicentras are northern hemisphere plants, growing from Asia to North America. In their natural habitat they are found in moist soils in the cool margins of woodlands.
  

• Garden care: Dicentras are happy in any good garden soil that is fertile but not too heavy. Enrich the soil with plenty of leaf mould before planting and apply a mulch in autumn, too. A light fertilising in March will help enormously.