“Broken heart”, “heart of Jeanette” and many other popular names has this beautiful flower. And no wonder, because each of its buds looks like a small split heart, from which a tear flows. This article will introduce you to the dicenter, its types and varieties.

Description of the center

The Greek name of the plant is translated as “double-spore”, which is associated with the shape of the buds, since their petals have two spurs. This is a genus of herbaceous perennials (there are annuals) from the Makov family and the Dymyankov subfamily.

In nature, "heart" flowers are common in East Asia and North America. They were brought to Europe from Japan at the beginning of the 19th century. The dicenter attracts gardeners with its unusual decorativeness, as well as other advantages: shade tolerance, frost resistance and unpretentiousness.

What does the dicenter look like?

“Broken Heart” - a herbaceous plant. Over the season, it builds up a lush bush, over which flower stalks with garlands rise.

Description:

• height - 15–100 cm;
• the shape of the bush is spherical;
• stems are vertical and drooping, branched, thick and fleshy;
• openwork foliage, cirrus-dissected, on long stalks, with various colors of green shades;
• fleshy rhizome, tuberous, deep in the soil;
• the flowers have the shape of a flattened heart, whose width is 2-3 cm, the upper petals, painted in a variety of colors (from white to pink), open the lower part of the bud, from where a drop is usually peeled white;
• peduncles high, arched, drooping;
• fruit in the form of a box with black oblong seeds.

Dicentric or not

The root dicentres (some varieties also have stems and leaves) contain alkaloids - toxic substances. A drop of juice can cause skin rashes, and once in the stomach, upset or poisoning. If you swallow a large amount of poison, this will provoke severe poisoning and severe disorders of the nervous system. Therefore, growing a flower requires caution, and when working with it, gloves should be used.

Important! The garden center is also dangerous for pets. If the fleshy root peeps out from under the ground, it can attract cattle. For this reason, it is important to ensure that the root system is completely covered by soil.

Flowering center

The timing of flowering depends on the variety, climatic conditions and quality of care. Usually the dicenter blooms a month or a half in the summer. With good care, the plant can re-dissolve its "hearts" in August – September. If you plant early, middle and late varieties on one site, their “heart” flowering will please the eye, starting in May.

Types and varieties of dicenters

There are about 20 species in the genus of Dicenter, but not more than 10 varieties are grown in the culture. And in recent decades, many varieties and hybrids have been bred. Below are considered the most popular types and varieties of dicentres in our country.

Did you know? Alba's white flowers look a little like broken hearts, so the English call this variety “flower-lyre” and “locks-keys”.

Gorgeous (Spectabilis), or A broken heart is the most common variety. The bush is large, dense and branched, grows up to 1 m. The foliage is green with a bluish tinge, it remains decorative all season, even after buds bloom. In May and June, bright pink “hearts” about 3 cm in diameter with a white “drop” flaunt on high peduncles. The advantage is high frost resistance.

Such varieties of Broken heart are popular:

• Alba - different white buds;
• Valentine - has burgundy stems on which cherry red heart-shaped flowers hang;
• Gold hart (Gold Heart) - adorns the flowerbed with golden yellow foliage and deep pink buds;
• Spring gold (Spring Gold) - a shorter variety (up to 40 cm), flowers of a bright pink-lilac color, and cirrus foliage is light green with a golden hue.

Beautiful, or Formosa, is almost 2 times smaller than the magnificent Gentiles. Bushes of this species grow no higher than 40 cm. Foliage is palmate, petiolate, green above, and bluish below. The flowers are medium-sized (2 cm), painted purple-pink. Unlike the previous species, in which the flowers hang in a garland on peduncles, Formosa inflorescences are collected in brushes and resemble a bouquet. Advantage - long flowering (from June to September).

Varieties:

• Aurora - a small but lush bush with bluish-green openwork leaves and snow-white heart-shaped buds, growing in one place for 8 years;
• Bakchanal - a tall oval bush (80 cm), above which numerous flower stalks with elongated “hearts” rise; from afar the plant looks like a green vase with a bouquet of pink flowers;
• Lakshariant - a compact plant 35 cm high with pale green carved foliage and purple peduncles, abundantly strewn with dark red or pink-purple buds.

Hoody is the most interesting type of dicenter. Dwarf bushes, up to 20 cm in height. In spring, exotic flowers bloom that are completely unlike broken hearts. The buds are white with a yellow frame or light pink, they are characterized by long spurs. Poisonous foliage, used in medicine. It can be grown as an indoor crop. Pittsburgh has pink flowers.

Exceptional, or Excellent - low-growing species up to 25 cm high. Foliage decorative, gray-blue, carved, like a fern. The flowers collected in inflorescences are white, pink or purple. Grade Graceful also looks like a blooming fern. Tall rosette leaves come from the root, and a luxurious bouquet of pink buds rises above them.

Wandering dicenter - miniature view (up to 15 cm). Foliage of bluish, strongly dissected. Peduncles thin with large pink-purple and white buds.Candy Hearts (Candy Hearts) - a beautiful variety of Vagrant dicentra. The stunted leaves create a beautiful carpet, above which stands a bouquet of delicate purple-pink “hearts” with white tips.

Did you know? German girls attributed magical power to the center. To meet the future bridegroom, they wore a "heart" flower in clothes, closer to the heart.

Climbing - a perennial liana reaching 2 m. The branches are densely covered with foliage, against which large bright yellow or white-pink buds bloom. Flowering continues all summer until frost. A very beautiful variety is Golden Vine. This is an exotic liana (2.5 m) with fine beautiful foliage and large flowers of bright yellow color.

Golden-flowered is a mountain American variety. In the wild, it can grow up to 1.5 m. The flowers are bright yellow. The bush is very decorative, but demanding of conditions, heat-loving.

A hybrid dicenter is not a separate species, but a whole group of hybrids bred by crossing different varieties, Usually Beautiful and Superb. They are characterized by large bright buds and decorative foliage.

Hybrid varieties:

• Luxuriant - blooms from spring to autumn with inflorescences of carmine-pink "hearts";
• Pink - stands out with bright raspberry bloom, which begins in May and lasts through July;
• White - decorate any flowerbed with luxurious flowering of large dazzling white flowers;
• Love Herts (Love Hearts) - crystal-white heart-shaped buds with a peeling purple “drop”;
• King of hartc (King of Herats) - is a neat, undersized bush that blooms brightly with bright raspberry buds with a light border from May to September;
• Burning Hearts (Burning Hearts) - has fancy bright red buds with white border that resemble flames.

What is the combination of a dicenter

The center can fit well into any composition of garden design. Since she loves shade, it can be planted under tall bushes, trees, or against the wall of a house. Low-growing varieties look good with flowering ground cover plants. Also, they can be grown as potted crops.

The flower goes well with:

• trees (linden, bird cherry and apple tree);
• high and low conifers;
• spring flowers (tulips, daffodils, phlox and hyacinths);
• grassy crops (primrose, medunica, bought, incense and muscari);
• perennial plants (fern and hosta).

Important! Flowering dicentres can be extended. For this purpose, you need to cut off faded peduncles in time.

A variety of types and varieties of dicentres provides a huge space for imagination in decorating the garden. Bushes with original flowers in the shape of a crying heart of different colors against a background of beautiful openwork foliage will perfectly cope with both the role of a tapeworm in the flowerbed and the central plant of a small rockery.