Dactylicapnos scandens
Climbing hydrangea, Wood vamp, Climbing yellow bleeding heart
Also known as Dicentra scandens, Dicentra thalictrifolia
- Height × spread
- 1m × 1m
- Position
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, likes light shade
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Flowers
- Summer
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This delightful modest plant is occasionally encountered tucked away in a corner, and occasions debate amongst those who have made the discovery. It happily climbs with clinging tendrils, never reaching very high! The white or yellow flowers hang in clusters of long slender lockets held on fine stems and dangling precariously. They appear in late summer or autumn. The soft green leaves are deeply lobed, reaching out with a dainty poise from the pale scramble of stems. This generally reaches around 1m (3ft) height and spread, but may be more ambitious in optimum conditions.
- Flower colour
- White, Yellow
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Dome
- Height
- 1m
- Spread
- 1m
- Season of interest
- Summer
- Flowers in
- Summer
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Garden style
- Small scale garden
- Sun or shade
- Tolerates full sun, likes part shade, likes light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Gravelly soil, Loam (normal), Sandy soil
- Soil pH
- Alkaline, Neutral
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Damp and wet soil, Well drained soil
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Wall cover
- Walls
- South, West facing
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring - late · Outdoors
Feed with slow release fertiliser
Apply a general purpose slow release fertiliser, spreading it around the root area of the plant as it is coming into growth. (Or apply a liquid feed at regular intervals throughout the growing season.)
This is a simple way to provide a nutrient boost as a single annual procedure.
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.