Last year I bought two bleeding hearts (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) to give some color to a shady spot in my yard. I mentioned in an early post that I was delighted to see they had recovered from dry conditions last summer. Well they are blooming beautifully now and have created just the pop of color I was looking for.

 If you have a shady spot in your yard these are definitely a wonderful option. They can get quite large- 3′ tall and wide (my sister has a huge one!). Just take note that they die back after they finish blooming. (This can be stalled by watering them liberally once they start blooming.) So make sure you have other perennials to fill in when they die back. If I remember correctly mine didn’t completely die back until late summer last year. Though I may be wrong.