Bleeding Hearts

A sure sign that Spring has truly arrived, my bleeding hearts blossomed this weekend. I eagerly await this "event" each spring. I will admit that I have a brown thumb and that this lovely, old-fashioned flower is the only flower I have grown successfully. And it blooms, literally, overnight. I was outside on Friday and saw my plant's green leaves swaying gently in the breeze. As I was coming out on Saturday, the vivid pink "lockets" caught my eye immediately. And I did what I always do -- stare at it in amazement as though I've never seen it bloom before. I have no idea if this overnight blooming is typical of bleeding hearts. I only know that *my* bleeding heart does and for a moment I'm like a young child seeing it for the first time. If anyone is home, I have to run in the house and announce that it has bloomed. Every. single. year. :-)

This excitement, in part, I'm sure, has to do with the fact that the blooming is proof-positive that I haven't killed the plant after all, even though by summer you'd swear by the looks of it that it will never again blossom. Unfortunately, it flowers for a very short period of time -- generally, at most, a month. Perhaps this is the norm for bleeding hearts. I really need to look this up on the internet. Anyway...I'm so glad I had access to a decent camera (thanks to my dd) so I could capture the image, share it, and enjoy my hearts long after the blooms have gone.

Hope springs eternal...