Cupid Bleeding Heart

Pink Perfection In The Shade Garden

Bring a dose of romance to your shade garden with the elegant Cupid Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis ‘Cupid’). This exceptional pink-flowering variety offers soft shell-pink heart-shaped blooms that dangle gracefully from arching stems. Unlike the classic red or white types, this cultivar boasts uniquely delicate tones and ferny blue-green foliage. It’s a spring-blooming, cold-hardy perennial that grows in a charming mound and delights pollinators while thriving in partial to full shade.

Cupid Bleeding Heart reaches a mature height and spread of 23 feet, forming tidy clumps of finely cut foliage. The pink flowers appear in mid-spring on arching racemes, blooming for several weeks before fading gracefully into summer dormancy. Its blue-green foliage provides lovely contrast and texture in woodland settings or shaded borders, then naturally retreats after flowering, allowing other perennials to take the stage.

Key Features

• Soft shell-pink heart-shaped flowers
• Blue-green ferny foliage
• Compact clumping habit, 23 feet tall and wide
• Blooms in mid-spring
• Cold-hardy herbaceous perennial for shade

Landscaping Uses

It’s deer-resistant, making it ideal for woodland gardens, pollinator beds, and shady containers. Cupid Bleeding Heart brings romance and structure to shady spaces with its arching stems and pink blooms, topping out at 23 feet in a compact mound.

• Shade borders or woodland gardens shade garden
• Underplanting for shrubs or trees
• Cottage garden designs cottage garden
• Part-shade containers
• Early spring pollinator beds
• Add to mixed perennial beds for texture and contrast mixed perennial garden

Native to parts of Asia, Dicentra spectabilis has been treasured for centuries in cottage gardens and shade plantings. The ‘Cupid’ variety is a refined, patented cultivar known for its soft coloration and neat form.

Care & Maintenance

Cupid Bleeding Heart is an herbaceous perennial and a springtime showstopper for shady spots. It’s cold-hardy, deer-resistant, and prefers consistent moisture.

• Planting Time: Early spring or fall
• Sun Requirements: Part shade to full shade; avoid hot afternoon sun
• Soil Requirements: Moist, well-drained, rich organic soils; avoid heavy clay or soggy soil (compost)
• Moisture Needs: Keep evenly moist in spring and early summer; use the Finger Test to check soil moisture (watering tips)
• Arborist Mulch: Apply a 34 inch layer of arborist mulch to regulate soil moisture and temperature
• Fertilization Needs: Apply compost or a balanced slow-release fertilizer in early spring
• Pruning Info: No deadheading needed; cut back foliage after natural summer dormancy dieback
• Renewal Pruning: Not needed
• Division Info: Divide every 35 years in fall or very early spring for vigor and propagation
• Special Perks/Growing Tips:
• Cold-hardy
• Deer resistant
• Low maintenance

Let Cupid Steal Your Gardening Heart!

With its blushing pink blooms and tidy shape, Cupid Bleeding Heart adds elegance and charm to the quiet corners of your garden. Let it enchant shady beds and soften your spring landscape with early color and texture. Order your Cupid Bleeding Heart today and let Nature Hills ship it at the perfect planting time for your zone.