In 1846, Scottish botanist Robert Fortune was sent to China by the Royal Horticultural Society to “find” some floral treasures. Armed with pistols, shotguns, trowels and a Chinese dictionary, he disguised himself as a Chinese person to infiltrate gardens forbidden to foreigners.

He returned with the largest plant shipment ever, up to that time. That was made possible by the development of a new type of terrarium that would keep them alive on a long ocean journey. Among the plants was a single Bleeding Heart, which was given to the Royal Horticultural Society.

Every Bleeding Heart in the Western world is a descendant of this plant.

Famous folk hero and plant peddler Johnny Appleseed knew to take plenty of these on his travels. It was the one plant he was guaranteed to sell among the Western pioneers, whose homesteads were beyond the reach of plant nurseries.

Like animals, plants sometimes escape captivity. Nine species now grow wild in the American West.

Bleeding Heart, or Dicentra spectabilis, is happiest in cool, shady woodland gardens. Its unique early spring bloom resembles a heart with a single, dangling drop of blood.

If you crush a blossom of this popular garden perennial and the juice is red, your love is reciprocated. If white, curl up with a carton of ice cream, a box of tissues and your favorite tearjerker.

Use this plant to introduce children to gardening. If you pull the two outer petals apart, you’ll see a lady in a pink bathtub. Pull them off entirely, and they resemble two pink bunnies. Press blooms between two heavy books for perfectly flat hearts to adorn homemade valentines.

Bleeding Hearts are ephemerals – perennials you don’t have to cut back in the fall. They simply disappear. If grown indoors, put a copper penny in the soil to repel negative energy.

William Cook, in his 1869 “The Physiomedical Dispensatory,” recommended a poultice to treat toothache and other pain. It has also been used to treat menstrual disorders, Parkinson’s disease and rheumatism.

The Chinese call it “yan hu suo” and prescribe it as an antidepressant and sedative. They also use it to treat tremors and high blood pressure.

In some cultures, it represents spurned or rejected love. In others, it is seen as a bridge between life and death. Pink ones symbolize kindness, subtlety and romance. The white stand for purity and innocence.

We owe a debt of thanks for Bleeding Hearts to a clever thief.

– A reference librarian, Lisa Karen Miller has been gardening and researching plant lore for many years. Have plant lore to share? Email lisalisa13131313@gmail.com.