I wish I could grow more but haven't found much the deer and rabbits won't eat.

Last edited Tue Oct 27, 2015, 08:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Blooming along with the Trillium and Dutchman's Breeches. Literally scads of them.

It's surprising to me that some people here didn't know what they are. I got that Jeopardy final immediately.

I remember the first time I saw them as a little girl. I was enthralled. Your photo does the same.

That is a very pretty picture of your flowers.

Gorgeous!

Have my great-great-grandmother's "Language of Flowers" booklet; very popular with the Victorians.

Giving your love a sprig of "bleeding heart" flowers or including them in an arrangement was to indicate your "heart was breaking" - there was a possible misunderstanding.

Other flowers in the arrangement indicated what the issue was about, or if it was that you who were confused and possibly hurt, or if you thought you weren't clear in an earlier message and were afraid the receiver had gotten the wrong impression.

Had nothing to do with a liberal stance or action at that time.

Haele

All ways to pass coded messages between people who wanted to be "more than friends" in an era where there was a rigid social structure. And the meanings were all different depending on where you lived and what sort of plants were native. Many meanings were based on folklore or popular culture at the time, so a flower given to a friend could mean something totally different ten years later.


Agatha Christie wrote a series of short stories where Miss Marple's familiarity with a British form of language of flowers is used to provide clues in several "stately home" murders.

Haele

I love flowers - busy planting pansies now.

Never tried to grow the Bleeding Heart. Is it difficult? I'm pretty good with flowers.

I have it on a north facing wall (Chapel Hill, NC) that does get a little bit of sun.
I had one in Nebraska that also had a lot of shade. It never bloomed as much as the one
that does here, but didn't know why. It might have dried out too quickly from the wind
that was always blowing there. I have a friend in New Hampshire who has one that
is just gorgeous--but don't know if hers is shaded, too.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/bleeding-heart/bleeding-heart-care.htm

They will get bigger each year since the rootstock never dies between seasons.

Always fun for a little kid.

2 pink bunnies, 2 ladies slippers, 2 sickles, and a bottle of wine.