Saturday, April 18, 2009

Dicentra Spectabilis - Bleeding Heart


One of my Dicentra Spectablis "Bleeding Heart". I have it about three years, it gets bigger and more spectacular each year. This dicentra spectabilis is a perennial herbaceous plant native to eastern Asia from Siberia south to Japan. It is a woodland plant that does best in light shade in well-drained soil. More information on the BBC gardening site.

The two main definitions of the phrase Bleeding Heart are given in the Merrian Webster's dictionary. The other one is the bleeding heart usually followed by the word liberal. Discussion of the origin of the "Bleeding Heart Liberal" phrase here. New York Times article with a "Bleeding Heart" headline here

Bleeding Heart poetry? Buckets of it all over the place, Google it yourself if you want. Steve Tasane is a critically acclaimed performance poet with a wide ranging repetoire and reputation. He has been broadcast on BBC 1, Channel 4, BBC Radio 1 and Radio 4. He works extensively with young people in classrooms across the UK. He has published a collection called Bleeding Heart. Not sure if there is an individual poem by that name but some of the samples you can listen to on his website suggest a less than traditional take on the theme. He is also featured on the Poetcasting website.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Spectacular plant, and thanks for pointing up someone new to read as well.

Congrats on the Open Mic and Boyne Readings as well - a great start, which will surely gain strength!