Dicentra cucullaria
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Tried and True Recommended by 1 Professional
Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: Dutchman's breeches
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Papaveraceae
Zone: 3 to 7
Native Range: Nova Scotia, North Carolina west to Kansas
Garden Location: Martha Love Symington Missouri Native Shade Garden
Height: 0.5 to 1 feet
Spread: 0.5 to 1 feet
Bloom Time: March
Bloom Description: White to pink
Sun: Part shade to full shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Medium
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Tolerates: Clay Soil, Rabbits

Culture

Grow in average, medium moisture, well-drained soil in part shade to full shade. Prefers rich, moist, humusy soils in part shade. Intolerant of wet soils in winter. This is a spring ephemeral which usually disappears from the garden by early summer (dry soils tend to hasten this process).

Noteworthy Characteristics

Dutchman's breeches is an easily recognized, graceful, early spring, Missouri native wildflower which typically occurs on forest floors, rocky woods, slopes, ledges, valleys, ravines and along streams throughout most of the State. Features deeply-cut, fern-like, grayish-green foliage and racemes of waxy, white (infrequently tinged with pink), yellow-tipped flowers shaped like pantaloons with the ankles upward (hence the common name). Flowers are borne in a row drooping from leafless stems arching above the foliage in early spring. Plants typically grow to 12" tall, with the flower stems and basal leaves rising directly from a scaly rootstock. Dutchman's breeches is in the same genus as bleeding heart.

Problems

No serious insect or disease problems. Some susceptibility to aphid infestations. Good soil drainage is essential for plant survival.

Garden Uses

Best naturalized in woodland, wildflower or native plant gardens. Generally considered inappropriate for borders because the plants go dormant by summer.

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