Gardening Questions and Answers

A new gardening question of the day appears every day of the year on the front page of Almanac.com. Below is the answer to one of the questions from our Gardening Questions and Answers Archive where you can find over 400 more gardening questions (with answers!).

Is the flowering plant called Dutchman's-breeches part of the bleeding heart family? What is its real name, and how do I grow it?

Dutchman's-breeches does come from the bleeding heart family; it's a wild relative of the cultivated bleeding heart. Its scientific name is Dicentra cucullaria. It can be found from eastern North Dakota south to Kansas, east to the Atlantic, and west to parts of the Pacific Northwest. It is a perennial with fernlike leaves. Its drooping flowers, which look like someone's breeches hung out to dry, bloom from mid- to late spring. It does best in a deciduous woodland environment. This plant can be propagated from seeds sown as soon as they are ripe, but it will do better if raised from rootstock. Plant it in the fall, setting the fleshy roots 1 to 1-1/2 inches deep and 4 to 6 inches apart.