Hi all. What does one do with Bleeding Hearts after they have bloomed
and start to look sort of ratty and icky? Do I cut them to the ground
or
wait until they die like tulips? I am in zone 4.
thanks
al

I have 7 of them in a row along the house for the past 3 years and they
do get kind of gangly after half-way through the Summer. I purchased a
short fence to sort of rein them in so they don't overhang into the yard
and let them continue to grow. You could also lasso them to a stake or
something to make them more compact. I've never trimmed them. Don't
know what that would do to them. I would think they need those leaves
right now to start storing "energy" for next year's flowers.

Quin
Zone 5 Illinois

Adrian Lundgren wrote:
Hi all. What does one do with Bleeding Hearts after they have bloomed
and start to look sort of ratty and icky? Do I cut them to the ground
or
wait until they die like tulips? I am in zone 4.
thanks
al

In article , Adrian Lundgren
wrote:

Hi all. What does one do with Bleeding Hearts after they have bloomed
and start to look sort of ratty and icky? Do I cut them to the ground
or
wait until they die like tulips? I am in zone 4.
thanks
al

By the time they're looking summer-yellowed, the root is already dormant,
so just cut that foliage away & compost it.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

We've got two here, and while we don't do it every year, it doesn't hurt to
trim them back if they're looking nasty (and they usually do when the heat
gets on). But not to the ground. We cut back selectively to neatly to maybe
a foot high, trying not to have it look like it'd been sheared. Ours put out
a flush of new growth and looked much better.

hope that helps.

Ali


"Adrian Lundgren" wrote in message
...
Hi all. What does one do with Bleeding Hearts after they have bloomed
and start to look sort of ratty and icky? Do I cut them to the ground
or
wait until they die like tulips? I am in zone 4.
thanks
al

"Adrian Lundgren" wrote in message
...
Hi all. What does one do with Bleeding Hearts after they have
bloomed
and start to look sort of ratty and icky? Do I cut them to the
ground
or
wait until they die like tulips? I am in zone 4.
thanks
al


Two common types of Bleeding Heart exist: Dicentra spectablis and
Dicentra eximia. The former blooms earlier and naturally goes dormant
in the summer. D. eximia blooms later and keeps its foliage most of
the summer.

If you have D. spectablis, the foliage will naturally die off. Once it
is brown, you can remove it if is unsightly. If you have D. eximia, I
suspect the growing conditions aren't correct. I wouldn't cut D.
eximia down, but give it some water.

Good Luck,

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

I mows ours right to the ground while doing the lawn. Its never hurt it in
the 10 years I'm doing it....

"Adrian Lundgren" wrote in message
...
Hi all. What does one do with Bleeding Hearts after they have bloomed
and start to look sort of ratty and icky? Do I cut them to the ground
or
wait until they die like tulips? I am in zone 4.
thanks
al