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mstywoods

Bleeding Heart - cold hardy, right?!

mstywoods
12 years ago

It's supposed to get down to 22 degrees in Denver area tonight!! I'm covering up some of my plants, but am wondering if my Bleeding Heart will be ok. It looks really good this year, so would hate to see it damaged. But Bleeding Hearts are cold hardy, aren't they? It should be ok even in the 20's I think. It's been in the ground for a couple of years, so definitely acclaimated.

Should I cover it just to be safe?!

From garden

P.S. this is the only bunny I don't mind in my yard! Thought maybe it would scare off the real bunnies, with his cold stare, but so far no luck ;^)

Thanks,

Marj

Comments (12)

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks Skybird! I was just getting ready to, and then I read your email - so definitely got it covered. I didn't have a box or bucket large enough, so I made a little tent for it with a sheet draped over the bird bath that's next to it and a bucket placed to the side of it. So it's nice and cozy now - or at least I hope so.

  • oakiris
    12 years ago

    I would think that the bleeding hearts should be covered. They are considered cold hardy because their roots will survive zone 3 winters, but their foliage and flowers certainly will not.

    Holly

  • oakiris
    12 years ago

    Skybird had already answered your question and you had already covered them while I was dawdling with my post. (I'm at work so had various interuptions...)

    Holly

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    No problem, Holly- appreciate your advice anyway!

    Well, looks like I didn't have to bother - it's 33 here this morning. So the 'accurate' weather folks were off 2 days in a row as it was colder Friday night that they said and not as cold Saturady night as they said. Oh well, better safe than sorry (glad I thought that way Friday night as well and covered everything - except the bleeding heart that night).

    Just watchedthe forecast for the week, so think I'll cover things again tonight but should be ok the rest of the week.

    Thanks all,
    Marj

  • oakiris
    12 years ago

    Another cold, cloudy day here. Rain would be fine, but I sure am getting tired of these cold, cloudy days with no moisture. Whine, whine, whine....Where are our sunny Colorado days?!?

    I'm glad your Bleeding Heart survived, Marj. I have yet to be able to get it to survive in my garden, but perhaps I will try again because it sure looks very pretty in your photo.

    As for meterologists - I have learned to take all of their forecasts of weather with a large "salt-lick-block-size" grain of salt!

    Holly

  • b2alicia
    12 years ago

    So glad I read this!

    Last spring I bought a bleeding heart bulb, and grew it in a pot until May, then put it in the ground. I wasn't sure it would even survive.

    And then, last week, I saw THIS!! Little baby flowers!
    {{gwi:1192822}}

    And here it is today. It still seems pretty frail to me, (especially after seeing msty's!), so I will definitely cover it tonight.

    Thanks!
    Betty

  • conace55
    12 years ago

    A few years ago I got a new bleeding heart because of this same kind of weather. The big box store I went to had not covered their plants well enough and they looked very sad. Some very nice large plants were drastically reduced because the foliage and current growth had been nipped by the cold weather. I cut it back, planted it, and the next year I had a very large, beautiful plant for practically pennies.

    Connie

  • Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
    12 years ago

    I only ever got down to 33 on Saturday nite, and 34 last nite. The soothsayers were wrong again! Was debating what to do tonite! NOAA is predicting down to 30 tonite, and while I don't believe that's gonna happen, I decided to stick the pots over my things again for one more nite! Decided I might be tempting fate if I didn't! Then it looks like we're gonna be sailing under blue skies with warm temps for at least a week! I didn't get any moisture out of this last one, so still really need some, but am hoping they're right anyway! After a few cloudy, chilly days, I'm ready for a stretch of SUNSHINE!

    Glad nobody got bitten---this time!

    Skybird

  • mstywoods
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Wow - I thought my bleeding heart looked good last year, but this year it's even better :^) Here's a pic I took today, same spot I took the one last year. As you can see, it has grown quite a bit (compare it to the pic on my original post at top of this thread)!!

    It's happy, and I'm happy too!

    Marj

  • jnfr
    11 years ago

    Gorgeous! I love them so much.

  • b2alicia
    11 years ago

    Marj, it's just gorgeous!

    The little one I planted from a bulb last year looks like it handled the winter okay too.

    {{gwi:1197499}}