Dicentra spectabilis f. alba (April 2011)
Genus: Dicentra (Family: Papaveraceae), Species: spectabilis f. alba
The more common form of the Bleeding Heart has pink outer petals and white inner ones, but I’ve always found it a little bit garish and have avoided it. Another common name is Dutchman’s breeches, but that is just being rude about Dutch trousers!
This form of the clump-forming herbaceous perennial produces completely white flowers in late spring and early summer, which hang off an arching stem. The heart shape is perhaps less obvious, but the plant also has fairly attractive foliage of pale green cut leaves, and retreats back underground to make room for other plants after flowering.
Dicentra spectabilis f. alba – young leaves (March 2011)
It has been hardy in my garden and is planted in a site with some shade, but both forms of Dicentra spectabilis will apparently tolerate a sunny site in moist soil. Although it can be damaged by slugs, I haven’t had any significant problems with that. While the plant encyclopedia suggests heights of up to 1.2 m, I would say mine lies around 60-80 cm, with a spread of 40-60 cm.
Plants in this genus can be propagated from seeds, by division and from root cuttings, but I suspect the seeds may not produce a white-flowered form, especially if neighbours have the pink version, so vegetative propagation may work best in this case.
As with many plants, the plant encyclopedia mentions that all parts of the plants may cause mild stomach upset if ingested – I always wonder who wanders around chewing the plants, but I guess it needs to be mentioned… And the second warning is that contact with the foliage may aggravate skin allergies; just knowing about that will make me itchy next time I clear up, but I haven’t had problems so far.
For me this is a nice background plant in a border or, in this case, a large raised bed, which needs very little looking after, performs well when other flowers are just getting started and then gracefully retreats underground.
Dicentra spectabilis f. alba – flowers (April 2011)
Plants in my Garden 