Dicentra, CSI

Two of my Dicentra Spectabilis have gone missing.

These were among the very first plants I put in when I started the garden 5 years ago, and they've been among the most resilient and cooperative denizens of the yard ever since.  They're among the very first plants to emerge, their feathery leaves looking far too delicate to break through the winter's detritus.  And they're also among the quickest to grow, speedily covering up bare foundation, dressing the front of the house with pink and white candy hearts.  



They hang around a long time, too. And by the time they're fully spent in July, their stems are as thick and hollow and yellowed as bamboo.  I wait as long as possible to take them down (usually so long that Mr. Mulch not-so-delicately inquires whether I'm waiting for a hungry panda family to appear).  And despite the fact that I have 5 years of experience seeing the gaping hole they leave behind, it always takes my by surprise.  You'd think that by now I'd have figured out what to plant beneath the bleeding hearts that would be ready to take the stage when the curtain falls on them. 

You can see the lone emerging dicentra in the
left center of the photo, just above the hellebore

But this year, long before we've gotten to the gaping hole part, something is clearly amiss.  Here, on the left, you can see that one of the pink ones is behaving normally, having cleared the mulch and sending forth the beginnings of its feathery boughs.  But where are Thing 2 and Thing 3?!  No sign of either the middle white one or the second pink one.  They all get the same lack of sunlight, and they've all had the same chilly damp early spring, so what gives?

Maybe I'm just being impatient.  Maybe it's the three inches of mulch we've smothered this bed with.  Maybe they succumbed to the particularly harsh winter that seems finally to have departed. The real problem is that I want to know. Now.  And I just have to wait.

I hate when that happens.



PS -- The hellebores are just lovely.  I just wish they weren't so shy... they hang their heads timidly and you pretty much have to lie spider-wise, like Camilo Villegas lining up a putt, to get a good look at them.  I'll spare you the awkwardness...