I'm trying to remember a flower from my childhood. My Nonna had these red flowers that would "bleed" when I rubbed the petals between my fingers. She used to say they were perennials, but now that she's gone, I can't ask her what they were called. I want to plant them at her grave, but my searches on Google haven't turned up anything useful, and I'm not really into gardening. If there's a better forum for this kind of question, I'd appreciate your guidance. Thanks for taking the time to read this!
4 Answers
You might be thinking of an amaranth called Love-Lies-Bleeding. They have that drooping flower format, which could match what you're describing. I hope others can provide more options too!
To narrow it down, let's think about some details! How many petals did the flower have? How large were the flowers, and were they clustered together or spaced out? Any specific leaf shapes? Providing more clues could really help figure out what flower this is!
Thanks for your questions! This was over 20 years ago, but I can try to answer:
- The flowers may have bloomed at a specific time of day.
- They had 4 petals.
- The flowers were in a bunch, not on stalks.
- No, they weren’t asymmetrical.
- A bright red shade.
- The leaves were small.
- They were kept outside in a shady area.
- Not a succulent, and I don’t remember any seeds or fruit.
What about Bloodroot? They have white flowers that could metaphorically be described as 'bleeding' because of the sap. Maybe that's closer to what you're remembering?
I checked those too, but they’re definitely not the ones I’m thinking of. Thanks for trying!
Could it be poinsettias you’re remembering? They have a milky sap that looks a bit like bleeding. When you mentioned 'bleeds,' what color were you seeing?
They were much smaller than typical poinsettias, and the bleeding was definitely red.
I checked those out, but they don’t look like what I remember. Thanks for your suggestion!