Bleeding Heart and Rhododendron Questions

[MsKitty31]

Hi, I have a couple of questions concerning my Bleeding Heart and Dwarf Rhododendron. Pics included. I live in upstate NY and am a Zone 3 and 4.

Bleeding Heart: It's huge and I like it. It blooms nice. My concern is whether or not I should be bracing this plant as you see it is huge and just falls over. The foliage is still green and looks half way decent so I don't really want to cut it back - I have heard that you can do that. The only part, in my opinion, that looks sort of bad is right at the base of the plant where it looks 'leggy'. I wonder if bracing it up might make it look better.

[url=https://s1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/Lorrine80/?action=view&current=P1040314.jpg][img]https://i1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/Lorrine80/th_P1040314.jpg[/img][/url]

[url=https://s1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/Lorrine80/?action=view&current=P1040315.jpg][img]https://i1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/Lorrine80/th_P1040315.jpg[/img][/url]


Purple Gem Rhododendron: I have had this plant for three growing seasons now. I noticed in the second season it started to take on this 'stemy' look. It is not as full in the core of the plant. Also, I notice the leaves start to turn yellowish. I thought this was because it needed acid. I use Miracle Grow Miracid on it during the summer. This seems to help with the yellowing of the leaves somewhat but doesn't help the stemy look.

[url=https://s1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/Lorrine80/?action=view&current=P1040312.jpg][img]https://i1163.photobucket.com/albums/q550/Lorrine80/th_P1040312.jpg[/img][/url]