DicentraDicentra has been broken up with the climbing species moved to Dactylicapnos and the "old fashioned" bleeding hearts into Lamprocapnos. Those left in Dicentra are largely broken into two groups: The loose clump or patch formers which are easy and reliable on the whole for ordinary soil in at least some shade. The more vigorous forms are tolerant of dryer soils. Mostly forms or hybrids of Dicentra eximia and D formosa. The bulbil forming small clumps that are a bit more demanding, here in Norfolk best pot grown. These need damper shade and don't seem to tolerate drying out even when dormant. Spring ephemerals, emerging early and going dormant as soon as it gets too warm and dry in summer. If you are lucky enough to have a good shady border (or whole garden) with soil that doesn't dry out and plenty of leafmould or compost then you can probably grow any of them well enough in the garden. We find that the bulbil types are safest in pots that we keep in heavy shade and watered all summer even though they are dormant.
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