How to grow bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)

Lamprocapnos spectabilis · Asian bleeding heart, lyre flower

Bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) — clump-forming perennial from north-east Asia, 60–90 cm tall, with soft divided leaves and arching stems hung with heart-shaped rose-pink flowers with white tips (white in some forms) in late spring. The leaves turn yellow and die back by midsummer. Bleeding heart grows best in partial shade and soil with pH 6–8. Water it about every 7 days while it grows.

Updated: October 28, 2026

When to plant bleeding heart?

It tolerates light frost: plant divisions into the bed about three weeks before your last spring frost.

It flowers about 31 days after growth starts and keeps flowering for about 30 days.

Frost dates · When to plant

Quick facts

Type	Flower
Latin name	Lamprocapnos spectabilis
Family	Papaveraceae
Also called	Asian bleeding heart, lyre flower
Planted as	divisions
Life span	perennial
Planting season	spring
Light	Partial shade
Soil pH	6–8
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for planting	from 5 °C
First flowers	31 days after growth starts
Flowering lasts	30 days
Grown in	Open ground

How long does bleeding heart take from planting to flowering?

From planting to the first flowers: about 31 days, or 4 weeks.

Step	Day
Planting	0
Growth starts	0
First flowers	31
End of flowering	61

Days count from the day of sowing or planting, by the figures of the card.

Where does bleeding heart grow?

5,379 records of the plant in gardens, fields and the wild worldwide; most photos come from United States, Germany, Norway, Czechia, and Finland.

World map: where bleeding heart has been recorded — Darker green means more records. Photos are real observations from those countries — tap one to see it. Map and records: GBIF.org (2026-10-28), © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap. Photo: Tim Fogarty, 721850313, Perry Gunnar Larsen, William C. McKnight, Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, Oleksandr Shynder (CC BY / CC0).

Bleeding heart, United States — Darker green means more records. Photos are real observations from those countries — tap one to see it. Map and records: GBIF.org (2026-10-28), © OpenMapTiles © OpenStreetMap. Photo: Tim Fogarty, 721850313, Perry Gunnar Larsen, William C. McKnight, Étienne Lacroix-Carignan, Oleksandr Shynder (CC BY / CC0).

Bleeding heart care by growth stage

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Growth	every 7 days	—	—
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Part shade, ideally morning sun and afternoon shade; it takes full sun only in a cool climate where the soil stays moist.

Soil

Moist, fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil, neutral to slightly alkaline. It rots in soil that stays wet in winter and dies back early in soil that dries out in summer.

Care

Plant or divide in early spring, or in autumn after the leaves have died down. Keep the soil moist in spring and early summer; steady moisture keeps the leaves longer, drought sends it dormant sooner. After flowering the leaves yellow and disappear by midsummer — normal summer dormancy, not a dead plant — so grow it among hostas or ferns that fill the gap. Pests are few — aphids on the flower stems and slugs on the leaves. It may self-seed; seedlings flower after two or three years. All parts are poisonous if eaten and the leaves can irritate skin, so wear gloves; it is toxic to dogs and cats, though the risk is lower for them than for grazing livestock.

Other plants of the Papaveraceae family

Bleeding heart belongs to Papaveraceae; 1 other plant of this family has a guide here.

Corn poppyPapaver rhoeas

Plant lists it is in

Part of: Garden flowers · Perennial garden flowers · Flowers for shade

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.