It will take as much sun as the regular green Dicentra spectabilis will -- that is to say, it prefers partial to full shade :-) And because of the gold foliage, it is an excellent plant for a darker, shadier location. Very bright!

I've grown this plant for a number of years and it tends to look better longer than its green leafed cousin - it doesn't go dormant quite so early in the season and therefore the foliage holds up better for a longer period of time.

In my zone 7 garden, it gets 3 hours of morning sun and then bright filtered shade. Mine actually never goes dormant in the summer. It goes dormant in the fall with all other perennials.

I would suspect that it can take quite a bit more sun in zone 4 because of the lower temperature and less sun intensity. The most important thing is providing it with enough moisture. Mine is planted along the run off rain water path.