Celebrate St Valentine's Day with Bleeding Hearts

Dicentra and Lamprocapnos light up dappled shady areas with their heart-shaped flowers in pink, white and romantic red. Little wonder that Val Bourne loves them…

- Val Bourne

ROMANCE is in the air this week and nature’s on the move once again. Prompted into action by lengthening days and warmer sunshine, there’s frog spawn in the pond, the birds are singing loud and long, and my bantams have started to lay after their long winter rest. I’ve also got bleeding hearts racing into growth – Dicentra, Lamprocapnos and their relative Corydalis – just in time to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

While most of us think of them as dicentras, following the latest reshuffle by botanists the ‘new’ Latin name of the tall bleeding heart is Lamprocapnos spectabilis. Of course, this isn’t actually new at all. As one of the first Asian plants to be introduced into Europe c1810, this bleeding heart was officially named Lamprocapnos spectabilis in 1850, and only later became D. spectabilis. Elegant and beautiful at 11⁄2-3ft (50-100cm) tall, it may also be sold under its former name.

Pairing with tulips