Valentine’s Day is only a few days away, and you might be pondering on what to give your sweetheart as a token of your affection. Last year I wrote about Plants that Say “I love you . . . “. This year, I’ll talk about a few of my favorite Valentine’s plants in more detail. Consider giving your lover one of these plants, a packet of seeds, or an I.O.U. to be redeemed when the weather warms.

Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding Hearts, Dicentra spectabilis, is one of the sweetest of perennial flowers. The lacy, low growing, fern-like foliage appears in early spring. The bright green color makes a perfect background for the taller stems which bear small, heart shaped blossoms. These hang much like tiny fuchsias and the flower stalk undeniably resembles a string of hearts.

If you have a moist, shady corner, consider growing bleeding hearts – if only because the dried flowers and foliage are perfect for Valentine’s Day cards and crafts. The flowers and leaves can be pressed between pages of a book. They will soon be dry and can be glued onto the card.

Hosta ‘Love Pat’

While it is not red or pink or heart shaped, I love the name and the lovely steely blue-green color of this Hosta cultivar. It is easy to grow, and the incredible thick crinkled leaves resist slug attacks. A foolproof plant for your Valentine to grow in part sun or shade.  It would look terrific planted in front of some Bleeding Hearts!

Heartsease or Johnny Jump Up

There is no single flower that appears more often in romantic garden folklore than violas. This plant group includes the pansies and heartsease, Viola tricolor, also known as the Johnny Jump Up.

This common annual wild flower from Europe is easily grown from seed. All violas love cool spring and fall weather. The flowers are edible, and look charming atop a green salad. This is another great candidate for pressing to use in craft projects.

In mythology Zeus created violas as food for his lover Io. In ancient days the plant was much used for its potency in love charms, hence perhaps its name of Heartsease. It is this flower that plays such an important part as a love-charm in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

And finally, Roses

The rose is a symbol of love in many cultures, in part due to its fragrance and also because of its long and colorful history. According to legend all roses were once thornless until Cupid attempted to kiss a blossom and received a bee sting on the lip. Angry, he took revenge by shooting arrows tipped with angry bees into the garden, and roses have had thorns ever since.

Instead of giving your Valentine a bouquet of cut roses, that will wither after a week, why not try a rose bush that will live on for many years? Old fashioned roses are often fussy growers, but this is not true of the newer “landscaping” roses, like the red Knock-Out® rose, pictured.

Happy Gardening, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sue

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