Origin: East Asia. Height: 1–2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Racemes of pink heartshaped flowers. Cultivar ‘Alba’ is white. Cultivation: Light shade. Moist soil. Summer dormancy produces large barren areas. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest.
Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)
Native Alternatives:
FRINGED BLEEDING HEART, EASTERN BLEEDING HEART, WILD BLEEDING HEART. Family: Fumitory (Fumariaceae). Genus: Dicentra (D. eximia) Height: 6 inches to 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Racemes of deep pink heart-shaped flowers spring through fall. “A more floriferous species than common bleeding heart when optimal growing conditions are provided.”14 Lacy often silvery-looking leaves remain attractive until frost. Foliage conceals empty spaces left by ephemerals. Masses of wild bleeding heart are spectacular. Cultivation: Sun/part shade. Moist soil. Nature Note: Wild bleeding heart attracts small insects that in turn attract hummingbirds (p. 10) and nesting birds; DUTCHMAN’S BREECHES (D. cucullaria). Height: 5–9 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Creamy white, waxy heart-shaped yellow-tipped ephemeral flowers April, May. Distinctly dissected blue-green leaves create clumps. Name Note: Derives from inflated spurs suggestive of legs of tiny pantaloons seen “anklesup”;15 SQUIRREL CORN (D. canadensis). Height: 6–12 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Flowers and leaves resemble Dutchman’s breeches and smell somewhat like hyacinths. Roots resemble grains of yellow corn.
Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia)
PALE CORYDALIS, ROCK HARLEQUIN. Genus: Corydalis (C. sempervirens). Height: 6–24 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Showy yellow-tipped single-spurred pink flowers. Cultivation: Sun. Dry soil. Nonnative Note: Do not confuse with the European yellow Corydalis (C. lutea). Nature Note: Spring flowers have a brief window of opportunity in which to attract pollinators, so they generally welcome most insects, but exceptions include Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, and Corydalis, whose long spurs make reaching nectar a challenge. Bumblebees have long tongues that reach the nectar, but shorter-tongued honeybees don’t, so they gather the pollen. However, smaller bees sometimes poke holes in the sides of a bloom to access the nectar and so bypass pollinating the flower. The edible oily appendages of Corydalis seeds (elaiosomes) attract ants (particularly Pheidole bicarinata), which help to disperse the seeds. Hummingbirds visit all these flowers. Mammalian herbivores avoid the foliage.
Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)
Pale corydalis (Corydalis sempervirens)
More Native Alternatives:
VIRGINIA WATERLEAF, p. 48; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38; WILD GERANIUM, p. 47.
Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens)
Nonnative:
BLUEBELL, ENGLISH BLUEBELL. Family: Lily (Liliaceae). Genus: (Endymion syn. Hyacinthoides) (E. nonscriptus); SPANISH BLUEBELL (E. hispanicus). There are many species and cultivars. Origin: Europe, North Africa. Height: 8–16 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Blue flowers. Strap-shaped leaves become eyesores. Cultivation: Shade. Moist soil. Seed prolifically. Invasiveness Note: English bluebell is naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest. Name Note: “Bluebell” is not the same as “bluebells,” a term that is applied to members of the Mertensia genus of the Forget-me-not family (Boraginaceae).
Bluebell (Endymion non-scriptus)
Native Alternatives:
VIRGINIA BLUEBELLS. Family: Borage, Forget-me-not (Boraginaceae). Genus: Mertensia (M. virginica). Height: 1–2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Pink buds open into nodding bright blue trumpet-like long-lasting though ephemeral flowers March to May. “Few plants exist that are necessary for a garden to be complete. This is one of them.”16 Cultivation: Sun/shade. Medium moist or average garden soil. Slowly forms colonies. Note: Threatened in parts of the Midwest. Nature Note: Attracts butterflies, skippers, hummingbird moths, and hummingbirds. The primary pollinators are nectar-seeking and pollen-collecting long-tongued bees. Name Note: Named “Virginia” (probably where the flowers were first were identified), but are native as far north as Minnesota.
Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
More Native Alternatives:
GREEK VALERIAN, p. 10; INDIGO, pp. 111–12; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38; also see native alternatives to CROCUS, p. 27; and native alternatives to HYACINTH, p. 52.
Nonnative:
BUGLOSS, SIBERIAN BUGLOSS, HEARTLEAF BRUNNERA, FALSE FORGET-ME-NOT. Family: Forget-me-not (Boraginaceae). Genus: Brunnera (B. macrophylla). Origin: Eastern Europe, Asia. Height: 12–18 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Small clusters of blue flowers. Large heartshaped leaves. Cultivation: Sun/shade. Moist and very moist soil. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest.
Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla)
Native Alternatives:
BLUETS, p. 32; CANADIAN WILD GINGER, p. 76; GREEK VALERIAN, p. 10; MOSS PHLOX, p. 48; VIRGINIA BLUEBELLS, p. 18; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38.
Nonnative:
CANDYTUFT. Family: Mustard (Cruciferae, Brassicaceae). Genus:
