With February 14^th just days away, love is in the air… or soil for us plant people.

Love-lies-bleeding, Bleeding hearts, and Love-in-a-Mist sound like cheesy song titles on a breakup mix CD but are actually common names of three Valentine’s Day (cough, cough Singleness Awareness Day) appropriate plants – Amaranthus caudatus, Dicentra spectabilis, Nigella damascena.

These heartbreaking flora may be the perfect light-hearted prescription for the flipside of your Valentine’s Day challenges.

Love-lies-bleeding: Amaranthus caudatus

• Although probably not as delicious as a chocolate covered strawberry, the leaves and seeds are edible and commonly eaten in India and South America
• Summer annual, able to handle humid and arid weather
• Grows 2 to 4 feet in height in full sun
• Great in hanging baskets due to their 12 to 24 inch blood red tassels – hence the love-lies-bleeding title

Bleeding hearts: Dicentra spectabilis

• Burst into signature bleeding heart flowers in late spring
• Perform best in partial shade with average to moist soil
• While our bleeding hearts sometimes ward off new relationships, the botanical bleeding hearts are both deer and rabbit resistant
• Grow 25 to 35 inches tall

Love-in-a-Mist: Nigella damascena

• Annual flowering plant
• Sometimes called Devil-in-a-Bush… hmm interesting LOVE-in-a-Mist or DEVIL-in-a-Bush an easy connection for some bitter recent-singles out there…
• Grows 8 to 20 inches tall
• Here’s something real romantic; Love-in-a-Mist is admired for its essential oil and is used in lipstick and perfume, producing a lemon-carrot aroma – because nothing attracts men more than lemons and carrots.

So whether you’re enjoying the 14^th of February over a candlelight dinner with your sweetie or alone with a tub of cookie dough ice cream and your sweet tooth, remember your love life probably isn’t as tragic as the morbidly named botanicals reviewed here.

Happy Valentine’s Day to the loved! And Happy Singleness Awareness Day to the bitter! Either way, try to enjoy some chocolate and the sweet, sweet aroma of lemon and carrots.