Be ready to bring them in during a freeze. Or set up some chairs around them then throw an elect blanket over them to keep them from freezing. I've done this in the past on my covered porch and in my garage. I'd put the plants to bed every night by tucking them in under an elect blanket just before I'd go to bed myself. It kept them from freezing.

I don't grow this, but found comments at Paghat's Gardens on it where she has described her experience in the Pacific northwest. She comments that given adequate moisture (but not kept soggy) it will keep its leaves all summer. In response to Ken, in my experience, Dicentra spectabilis goes dormant consistently, but the fern leafed varieties don't necessarily. They may slow blooming in hot weather, but here in my NH garden, Dicentra eximia blooms much of the gardening season and the foliage is present all summer. I also have an unknown white-flowered variety (maybe also D eximia) that keeps its leaves all summer but doesn't bloom quite as long. Here is a link that might be useful: Burning Hearts at Paghat's Garden

Ask away Eileen--that's what we're here for! 10 years ago, I was a newbie. One of the first gardening chores I had to do was divide the beautiful peonies that came with the house. Heart in throat and gardening book in hand, along with advice from my next door neighbor to wait until fall, I went out on a fine October weekend and spent all day digging up, separating, and replanting peonies in a sunnier spot. I was the happiest camper in God's green valley when, the next spring, they sprouted and actually bloomed! I was jumping around in my driveway saying "I didn't kill them! I didn't kill them!" I'm sure all of us have similar stories about our early days in the garden.

I find that my dicentra exima (the "common" or "wild" bleeding heart) stops blooming during the hottest summer months, and the foliage thins out considerably. As soon as summer's worst heat passes, it puts out lush new foliage and a second flush of bloom. I'm seeing that process beginning now, with a few just beginning to re-bloom. All are growing in high, dappled shade, some with early morning sun. Diane