A walk in the garden after the rain.

I love the garden after the rain!  The way the glistening raindrops perch upon the petals and leaves is magical. 

Do you have a Bleeding Heart in your shade garden?

The Bleeding Heart is one of my favorite perennial flowers.  A member of the Papaveraceae family, this delicate old-fashioned flower is an absolute must for your shade garden!

I find Bleeding Hearts to be quite hardy in a rather cold climate.  Not sure if one that I planted last year would return after such a cold winter, I bought another to replace it with.  Sure enough, last year's plant began to emerge from the cold brown soil in mid May!  The plants will grow to be fairly large if treated properly.  They do seem to like moist soil but it should drain well.  Don't plant them in direct sunlight as they thrive in the shade.

Often sharing space in the garden with mossy stepping stones and shade loving Hosta, the bleeding heart comes in many varieties and colors.  Once the blooms have gone by and the stalks turn yellow and dry, I cut the old stalks off before the heat of the summer.  Don't worry, this beautiful  flower of old will greet you again next Spring!

This red bleeding heart seems a bit more dainty than my pink one and is blooming a bit later.

The taller bleeding heart is a nice compliment to the shorter mound of hosta.

We love the pretty pink flower accented with white and a touch of yellow!  Beautiful.

White is pure and simple. 

It "glows" in the shadows of the sun.

Of course they look wonderful when loosely arranged with other garden flowers!

Visit your local garden center today.  It's not too late to find one of these gorgeous perennials.  If you happen to find one that has gone by and is marked down, good for you!  Buy it and bring it home.  Plant it as soon as possible and wait for all of the stalks to turn yellow, then trim.  You may have missed the glory of this year's blooms, but next Spring is sure to bring more!