Bleeding Hearts

* Zone 3-9
* Bloom: Summer-Fall

* Plant Height 10"-12"
* Light: Part Shade
* Attracts Butterfly's
* Long Bloomer

Growing Bleeding Hearts from Seed

Bleeding heart plants can be propagated from seed and these are some tips to help your seeds have the best possible chance to turn into beautiful flowers.

• Moisten a mixture of half coarse sand and half milled peat in a small (46") pot with water.

• You will only need to sow 3-4 seeds in each pot, poking a one-half-inch deep hole for each of the seeds. Place only one seed in a hole, then cover with loose peat that has been slightly moistened. Press the peat to make it slightly firm.

• Grab some plastic wrap from the kitchen and completely wrap however many pots you have made, then place them all in the freezer for about six weeks.

• Once you remove the pots from your freezer, I would recommend that you place them on a propagation mat at about 60-65 degrees close to a window that allows a lot of sunshine in.

• When the soil feels just barely moist at the very top, you can water the plant. Don't ever let it dry completely out, but don't keep it soggy (seeds can mildew if they get soggy).

• Once more, be patient, as it could take from two to six months for your bleeding heart plant to sprout. Once you do see some growth, thin out the weakest ones and leave only one plant in each pot.

• Don't move the plants outside until after the last frost.

• Once your plants have some mature leaves, they are ready to be transplanted into larger pots filled with potting soil, and grown in light shade for their first year.

• Continue to water whenever the soil feels barely moist at the top, then transplant them into a larger container, or a shady garden bed in early autumn (too much heat or sunshine will cause your flowers to be short lived (ephemeral), and although they don't die, they do become dormant, but the roots are still fine. You should be able to count on having some gorgeous bleeding hearts if you follow all of these suggestions, and I wish you the best of luck with these gorgeous, shade-loving plants.