my mom had some of these in the deep shade garden in michigan she grew hostas with it, was beautiful. I would never of said anything would of grown in that area, it was so shady. the bleeding heart was going dormant when the trees were getting good and leafed out, which is how it managed to get any sun at all.

sally

Great question! I am about to sow some Bleeding Heart seeds myself and found that Hostas, Astilbes, ferns, begonias, columbines, epimediums, fuchsias, hellebores, primroses all go well with it.

Enjoy!

There are a lot of plants that just look nice with bleeding hearts, but you're talking about something to specifically take the place of the plant, right? I'd love something like that too - ideally a perennial that's just coming up as the bleeding heart is dying down. Of course the other option is just to put in shade tolerant annuals like the coleus you're considering.

I'm planting fall blooming Japanese anemone near my bleeding heart. I've read it is a good companion that fills in as the bleeding heart is going dormant. Also have planted Bunnera Jack Frost in front of my bleeding heart and they look great together!