Bleeding heart vine
Clerodendrum thomsoniae
Also called Glory bower and Bag flower
Houseplant · FloweringTwo flowers in one: a white paper lantern that stays for weeks, and a scarlet bloom that pushes out of it and drops in days. The white husk hanging on afterwards is not a dead flower — it is the plant's own way of staying showy.
Care at a glance
- Ease
- Medium
- Water
- Every 5 daysDrench and drain — water the whole surface until it runs from the holes.
- Light
- Bright indirect
- Feed
- Every 21 days
- Humidity
- High
- Hardiness
- Indoors, or out in high summer RHS H1B, to 10°C
- Size
- 2 m tall · 1 m across
- Lifecycle
- Climber
- Origin
- West Africa
Is it safe for pets and people?
PetsNothing recorded against it
No animal-poison authority lists this plant either way.
PeopleNot checked yet
Nobody has checked this one against a source for us yet, so treat it as unknown rather than safe.
Checked against ASPCA and RHS on 2026-08-05. Where a source says nothing, we say nothing.
A guide, not veterinary or medical advice. If a pet or a person has eaten a plant and you are worried, call your vet or doctor now — don’t wait for signs to appear. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
First signs of trouble
- All the leaves and flowers end up at the top of the wire and the bottom half is stick. Cut it back by half after flowering, hard, every year.Bare at the base · disorder
- The leaves go dull and stippled and fine webbing appears in the leaf joints — dry air in a heated room is what brings it.Glasshouse red spider mite · pest