How to Propagate Bleeding Hearts

The bleeding heart is a perennial plant with delicate white or pink heart-shaped flowers that you can propagate to share with your friends and family. This plant is beautiful potted indoors, or to use in your flower garden after the danger of frost is over. The arching stems bloom with flowers from May until June. The foliage is feathery and attractive by itself during the remainder of the season.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

things you’ll need:

• Pruning shears
• Small pot with drainage holes
• Starter mix
• Slow-acting granular fertilizer

1. Divide the plant by digging with a spade and separating sections of root and sprouting plant in the early spring before the blooms appear. Propagate them every three to four years, or as needed.
2. Use pruning shears to remove a stem cutting from the spring growth that is 3 or 4 inches long. Cut right beneath a node. Alternately, you can take a root cutting from a larger plant after the flowering season is over and the plant is dormant.
3. Fill a small pot with drainage holes with a starter mix and water well. Plant the stem cutting into the soil mixture. Roots should appear within 2 to 4 weeks. If you use a root cutting, insert it into a starter mix and water it enough to keep the soil moist. The top of the root cutting should be level with the surface of the soil. Cover it thoroughly with the starting mixture.
4. Transplant the stem or root cutting with the new established roots into a pot with drainage holes and potting soil once the threat of frost is over. The bleeding heart thrives in partial shade and moist, but not soggy soil.
5. Acclimate it to the new area by increasing the amount of hours it is outside for a few days. This will help it get used to the sunlight and different temperatures before leaving the pot outside or transplanting it into a flower bed. This technique is called "hardening off" and it won’t experience as much of a shock if you acclimate it using this method.
6. Fertilize your bleeding heart three weeks after propagating. Use a slow-acting granular fertilizer and repeat the fertilization yearly in the early spring months.

Tips & Warnings

• The roots of the bleeding heart plant are fragile and brittle; therefore use a gentle touch when propagating.

• The bleeding heart plant dies back in the autumn months as part of its normal life cycle, so don’t be alarmed when this occurs.