Dicentra formosa ‘Luxuriant’

This bleeding heart cultivar features deeply-cut, fern-like, grayish-green foliage which persists throughout the growing season and cherry red, nodding, heart-shaped flowers carried above the foliage on long, leafless, leaning stems. Protruding inner petals of the flower purportedly appear to form a drop of blood at the bottom of each heart-shaped flower (hence the common name of bleeding heart). Plant typically grows to 15″ tall. Bloom begins in late spring. In cooler climates, flowering may continue throughout the summer, but in the hotter climates, the flowering will generally stop in hot weather, with a possible rebloom occurring when the weather cools in late summer or early fall. Given adequate moisture, foliage remains attractive in summer, and may produce an attractive groundcover effect. Similar in appearance to the showy, old garden bleeding heart from Asia, D. spectabilis, except D. spectabilis is taller and wider, its flowers are larger and its foliage is less dissected and usually goes dormant by mid-summer. ‘Luxuriant’ is probably a hybrid between D. eximia (eastern U.S. native) and D. formosa (western U.S. native).