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One morning while Bill and I were driving back from Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I spotted some little pink flowers on the hillside by the road. After a few U-Turns, I had a chance to take a closer look at the flowers, and realized that they were wild Bleeding Hearts – Dicentra Eximia.

Last spring I’d had the opportunity to photograph three members of the Dicentra family. One was Dicentra Spectabilis – the Bleeding Hearts often found in gardens. The other two were wildflowers – Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra Cucullaria) and Squirrel Corn (Dicentra Candadensis) – that I photographed in National Parks.

This was the first time I’d had an opportunity to photograph the wild bleeding hearts. Here are a few of my favorite photos of this beautiful wildflower.

bleeding heart

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

bleedingheart

(c) 2009 Patty Hankis

bleedingheart

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

bleedingheart

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins

bleeding_heart

(c) 2009 Patty Hankins