The Bleeding Heart

My favorite flower will soon be in full bloom, and as these photos can tell, the Bleeding Heart speaks of love, optimism, hope and sheer beauty. Its technical name in botany is Lamprocapnos spectabilis. It is also affectionately also known as old-fashioned Venus's car, Lady in a bath, Dutchman's trousers, or Lyre-flower. It is a perennial plant native to eastern Asia from Siberia south to Japan. It is a popular ornamental plant for flower gardens in temperate climates, and is also used in floristry as a cut flower for Valentine's Day. It usually has red heart-shaped flowers with white tips which droop from arching flower stems in late spring and early summer. 

White-flowered forms are also cultivated. I pray that bleeding hearts will be only visible on this plant, and not in the lives of so many heart-broken people and families, of which there are probably much more than we think.