These delicate heart-shaped flowers are commonly known as bleeding hearts, but held upside-down, they also look like ladies in pink ballgowns – my daughter used to love playing with them! Dicentra spectabilis is tougher than it looks – it likes a cool shady spot, ideally a bit damp, where it can quickly emerge in spring before it dies back completely by summer to hibernate underground for another year. Plant later-season performers behind it to fill the gap it will leave.
