Ledges always excite our curiosity, and we scramble up the steep, rock-strewn hill to prowl about the base of the towering cliff that will, come mid-spring, flaunt in the face of the frowning north a myriad of gay, dancing Aquilegia canadensis. blossoms. As usual, we mean to return and see them. Below us now, however, careful as we tried to be, we see that we have left an easily discernible trail through the magnificent colony of Dicentra cucullaria that covers the entire slope from the foot of the cliff to stream below.
Here and there among them we discover, by looking closely, several clumps of Dicentra canadensis, and we insist again that it really makes little difference which – of the two species of Dicentra one plants in the garden; they are so nearly alike that the casual eye will observe them as one species and enjoy them no less on account of the error.
The considerable difference in the roots of the two is, of course, unseen. Dicentra cucullaria seems to be the more popular, it is to be admitted, but this I believe to be true because they are the more widely distributed and not because they are the better of the two varieties. In our own experience we find that Dicentra canadensis is the hardier apparently, is less exacting in its requirements, and can boast a somewhat longer blooming period. Both appreciate a plentiful supply of leafmold, and prefer a cool, uniformly moist situation. They bloom, of course, before the leaves are well started on the trees, but the observant nature lover will note that plenty of shade is in prospect when the leaves do come.
Apparently woodland Dicentras like a world of sun throughout their growing season, followed by dense shade, in addition to the protection afforded by the heavy layer of leaf-mold, during the hot, dry months of summer when they already lie dormant. Theirs is a long period of dormancy, very close to eleven months, consequently nature must be depended upon to care for them during their period of rest.
Clear the woodland away, though you leave the soil undisturbed, and the Dicentras disappear. This is not immediately true of Podophyllum peltatum, Claytonia virginica and others of a hardier woodland clan. Eventually, however, that creeping menace, grass, takes over and smothers them to death, that is, if man, in his mad scramble after another dime hasn’t ripped the hillside apart long before.
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