Last spring the bleeding hearts were about twice as big and I really gave serious thought (at the time) about moving the hyacinths farther away because they did get overshadowed pretty badly as the summer went on.
Last fall however, the combination of dog and chipmunk took care of the problem at least for this year. The birdbath had been positioned between and to one side of the bleeding hearts. The chipmunk decided to move in for the winter, into the base of the birdbath. Brandon took exception to this and dug up half of the bleeding hearts in his quest to get at said chipmunk. I didn't realize what was going on until much damage had been done.
Getting the chipmunk out from under the birdbath took a bit of effort. It was not at all interested in coming out, even when Brandon had been shut in the house. When I turned the birdbath on its side, it scrambled up in to the pillar of the bath, which is hollow. I got a wrench and undid the nuts holding the bath on the pillar, leaving just a hollow tube. It still didn't want to come out, despite the fact that its happy home was now in pieces. It would scramble from one end to the other, but wouldn't leave. I finally got the hose and sprayed its furry little butt firmly. It shot out of the tube as though from a cannon and scrambled into the neighbor's yard, under his fancy deck.
The birdbath was put back together (with thanks that it hadn't been glued or welded originally) and left on its side for several weeks, partly to discourage a return to the old homestead and partly to discourage Brandon from digging up any more of the bleeding hearts.
I wasn't sure they'd make it, but they were well established at the time and seem to have made a recovery.
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