Friday 31 May 2013

My Bleeding Heart

My Bleeding Heart, or Dicentra Spectabilis, has grown huge this year. I've had it a few years now and it's gradually increased in size year on year, but I think it's a tad too large for my border now so it's time to divide it. I've read different opinions on when's best to divide the plant, some say March to May, others say straight after it's finished flowering and others advise early autumn. It should give me some free plants which I'll be able to grow in the front garden.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a poster advertising a plant sale in the local community centre. It was on a Sunday morning when I didn't have anything else planned, so I decided to have a look. I've never seen a plant sale held here before, so I don't know if it was the first one or whether it's something which happens regularly, but we arrived about ten minutes after it's start time and it was jam packed. There was a great variety of plants, both bedding plants and perennials, and people had boxes full of them, it was a very popular sale. I came away with an Echinacea and a yellow Sedum. I'll definitely look out for plant sales here in the future.

There's lots of fledglings around at the moment. I was watching a sparrow feeding her baby with seeds she was taking from the feeder yesterday. Unfortunately, there's lots of cats around where we live too. Don't get me wrong, I do like cats, but they're such a pain where birds are concerned. I just hope they leave them alone whilst they're so young.

22 comments:

  1. Years ago I was able to get lots of lovely plants from a local plant sale at great prices, unfortunately the local garden club doesn't exist anymore. The bleeding heart is lovely.

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    1. That's such a shame. It's great when you're able to source nice healthy plants locally, especially when they're resonably priced. I love bleeding hearts, I look forward to it flowering each year.

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  2. Plant sales can be really good value. I haven't seen any round here yet sadly, but do go to gardens that have plant sales areas. They seem to be a lot better value than the garden centres and more likely to offer something a bit different too.

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    1. Garden centres tend to be a bit of a rip off, and as you say, they all seem to sell the same things. Much better if you're able to buy when visiting a garden, and you get some ideas about how it will work in your garden then too.

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  3. AnonymousMay 31, 2013

    Plant sales are great fun and often have some great bargains.
    I like cats but sadly they are a pain as birds are concerned.
    Flighty xx

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    1. I shall be watching out for more plant sales in my area, this one was very well attended. I haven't seen any cats chasing the birds in my garden for a while, so I hope they stay away whilst the fledglings are around.

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  4. You can get great value at a local plant sale. We do them 2 or 3 times a year in the flower club.

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    1. I hope the plant sale will become a regular thing, there were some lovely plants and they were very reasonably priced.

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  5. Our dicentra was very late this year - it is usually flowering well before anything else is,We started with one and are now up to four!

    Loads of fledglings here too - the starlings are particularly amusing!

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    1. My dicentra was late too, this photo was taken yesterday and it's still in full bloom. I haven't seen any starlings yet, though I've got plenty of adults gobbling up the suet block.

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  6. I happened across a plant sale in town the other day and got a fantastic sedum for £2. It was just what I was after to attract bees to the allotment, so I was thrilled. My boys tried very hard to persuade me to buy a long trough full of cactuses for £12, but I held firm!

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    1. I can beat you with the sedum, mine was £1.49. I'm hoping mine will attract bees too. I don't know what it is with cacti, kids seem drawn to them. I remember growing them as a child, and we've had a few here over the years whilst the kids were young. There's still one hanging on too.

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  7. The Dicentra matches the background of your blog page quite nicely!

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    1. It does rather. I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it.

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  8. Some of my last year's small plants for the border(that I bought last year) are just beginning to flower which I find exciting as I'm still learning about what to choose for a small garden. I'm definitely looking out for bargains again from local sales. It's nice when you can talk to other gardeners at the same time.

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    1. Plants tend to fill out in their second year and put on a better show than in their first, so your garden should be a riot of colour. It's nice to buy plants from people who've grown them, you can glean lots of advice that way.

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  9. I grow the white version Jo and it's one of my favourite plants. I've divided it succesfully but can't remember when :) Will put my thinking cap on. The plant sale sounds like a most excellent discovery.

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    1. I love the white version, I've been promising myself one for some time now but it hasn't yet materialised. I'm hoping that the plant sale becomes a regular event, it was certainly popular enough.

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  10. There'll be no stopping you now, Jo, if you start going to plant sales - lots of bargains will soon see your gardens overflowing! There's a clump of trees outside my window which is filled with nesting birds every spring. There was a dreadful hullabaloo a few days ago when magpies and crows were fighting to get to the baby birds and unhatched eggs. At least they should be safe from cats as the trees are very tall.

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    1. I do enjoy a good plant sale so I hope it becomes a regular event. I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of plants on offer so you might be right, I could be easily persuaded to bring a few home with me. What a shame about the baby birds, magpies and crows can be as cruel as cats.

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  11. Oh I do love bleeding hearts.....I didn't know you could divide them, so that's good to know!

    Plant sales are the best aren't they, you just never know what you'll find.

    I worry about the fledglings with our dogs as they are still young, it takes years to train them to leave birds alone. I know what you mean about cats, Curly is really well fed yet STILL kills the birds. It's SO frustrating!xxxx

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    1. I'm hoping that they thrive once divided, I'll let you know how I get on. That's the problem with cats, they kill birds for the fun of it, as you say, frustrating, but it's in their nature, I can't hold it against them.

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