4/21/2025

Springtime

One of my favorite flowers are Bleeding Hearts (they are actually perennials). The most popular name here is "Tränende Herzen" - Crying Hearts.
Where my grandmother lived, there was a small meadow with three buildings around it, and along the walls of those buildings, there were Bleeding Hearts. I still see myself sitting down beside them to admire the little pink hearts which were so perfect.
Probably my memory deceives me and there wasn't the mass of blossoms I seem to remember, but that doesn't change anything about my thinking of my grandmother every time I see one of those plants.

Picture via pxhere

Then one day I stumbled upon a picture on deviantArt which surprised me, not sure why it did because I love looking at flowers, but don't know the next thing about them.
It was a white Bleeding Hearts plant and it looked beautiful. I had seen black and blue ones on the web before and knew those weren't real, but white ones are and I immediately fell in love. So when I met the neighbor the next day and he told me he was off to the garden center, I jokingly asked him to bring me white Bleeding Hearts and he did!

It has been in our little garden for some years now and while it's not blooming in abundance, it makes me smile every year.
Last week Monday, there were no blossoms yet, but when I went down two days later to fill up the bird feeder, I was happy to see two little rows of white.
From what I read, April is rather early for Bleeding Hearts to bloom. Part of the blossoms were still quite delicate and I just hoped the predicted rain wouldn't be too hard on them because it was already too dark to get a good picture.

The next morning I checked from the window and saw a blossom peek out from under the green, so I went down - without much hope because it was a really grey day, just how I love it, but not good for pictures with my little old camera - and found them alive and well.
Welcome spring!






If you want to know more about Bleeding Hearts, where they come from, and an old tale behind the name, check out
Bleeding heart: origin, properties and flowering time

4 comments:

  1. These are beautiful! I’ve never seen white ones, but that makes them even more special!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think so, too. I was so excited when I saw that first picture!

      Delete
  2. I love bleeding hearts and always wanted to grow them, but never have. I have seen them just once or twice in a garden shop and never in the wild like you describe. It’s so sweet that they remind you of your grandmother.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. An FB friend wrote she has the red ones because her grandfather loved those. I bet there are a lot people with memories like these.

      Delete