I may remember wrong, but I think both species are selfsterile(can't pollinate itself), so you have to have at least two different clones to get seed. The seed of D.Spectabilis is a favourite seed to be spread around by ants. In my case all the seed ended up in my green house for some reason.

Mine self-seeds prolifically. Happily, it's easy to rip out or I would be totally overrun. It's the main plant that has seeded itself into a rock wall. I started from just one plant that I got at a swap, and now have more than I want. I even found a white one this year for the first time.

I had D. spectabilis in another garden (not great soil) where it self-sowed some, but nothing like what D eximia is doing in this current garden. It doesn't seem to sow into the adjacent lawn, for which I am grateful since some of my other more prolific perennials do.
{{gwi:269018}}From June 2010

Are you sure these are not runners?

Dicentra formosa self seeds for me, almost weedy but none of my other Dicentras ( I have many) seed at all.

@ wieslaw - Mine are definitely not runners. They set seeds and the seeds sprout.

My understanding is the same as Wieslaw's - that Dicentra eximia is not self-compatible. I have only one specimen, that I've divided and moved several times, and have never seen a seedling.

My Dicentra spectablis is a different story - I had only one large specimen and it did make a seedling a few years back which is now a good sized plant that has different characteristics from the mother. Not sure what's up with that.

This is very interesting. Thanks for your thoughts. I've done some more research and still haven't found any mention of this problem with eximia. There are a number of hybrids that aren't fertile, but that's about all I could find.

Kevin

Mine seeds, though not prolifically.

@ aachenelf 'still haven't found any mention of this problem '.
Don't consider it a problem. It may be a blessing in many cases. There are actually a lot of plants which cannot be fertilized with their own pollen. Just to mention a few: many cultivars of apple trees, pears, cherries, Lythrum salicaria, some lilies, blueberries, and many more. That's why you have to have at least 2 different trees to get fruits.