The Anemone has Landed

For those that missed our last E-news, here is the article that I posted on Japanese Anemones

Although they’ve been around for hundreds of years the Japanese Anemones still are unknown by many gardeners. They are one of my favorite fall blooming perennials. Anemones actually get a head start on the fall starting their blooms in early August, and continue well into October.

Anemone comes from the Greek word that means wind. The common name is Japanese Windflower or Japanese Anemone. It’s a bit of a misnomer that these are called Japanese Anemone. There are three main species that are called Japanese Anemone; A. hupehensis, A. vitifolium & A. tomentosa. They are actually all originally from China. A horticultural record keeping error in 1695 listed them as originating in Nagasaki Japan. By the time the error was discovered in 1844 the name was already well rooted in the gardening world. It is still known by some in the trade by Anemone japonica.

The foliage of the Anemone is a dark glossy green. The leaves remind me of large maple leaves. Sometimes the leaves can grow up to 6 inches wide. From spring into the summer the foliage stays low and compact. The ones in my garden reach a height of around a foot tall by the end of July. Then a transformation begins. Spikes of flower buds grow up from the center on large stiff stalks. I’ve never had to stake them. These stalks reach a height between two and three feet tall just before the flower show begins.

The l flower petal colors are clear and vibrant. Colors range from pure white to bright pink to dark magenta. The stamens in the center of the flowers are bright yellow and the stigma is a light green. The more popular varieties have a single row of seven to ten flower petals. There are also double flowering varieties that have quite a few more petals.

A few of my favorite varieties are as follows:

Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ – Pure white flowers with a height of 3’ tall.
Anemone ‘ Pamina’ – flowers are pinkish red.
Anemone ‘ Party Dress’ – Big fluffy, double pink flowers.
Anemone ‘Prince Henry’ – Deep dark rose flowers.
Anemone ‘ Queen Charlotte’ light pink flowers, a darker than average foliage, and a clump forming habit.
Anemone ‘Robustissima’ – pale pink flowers
Anemone ‘September Charm’ – Flowers are silvery pink.
Anemone ‘ Whirlwind’ – Semi-Double white flowers.

Anemones are extremely adaptable as to what soil type they will grow in. They can take clay, sandy or loamy soils. The one thing that they do not like is a soil that stays too wet. I once made the mistake of giving them too much of a good thing. We had one bed that had mixed tons of organic compost and peat moss. We then planted the Anemones into this soil. They spread like wild flowers, but they didn’t bloom well. The bed that had the least amount of soil preparation did the best. Here they don’t try to take over the garden, and they have flowered perfectly for the past ten years. I have also found that after the Anemones have become established they are generally drought resistant.

Anemones also are adaptable to light conditions. They tend to take full sun to ¾ shade. They are also very disease and insect resistant. The only problem I’ve noticed in our garden was some rust on the foliage. This happened because we had the plants under overhead sprinklers too late in the day.

Anemone used to be on my list of deer resistant plants, but I have noticed that the deer have started to appreciate the taste of the Anemone flowers. Deer can vary by region, so I would recommend using a repellent for newly planted areas.

Anemones look great planted with perennial asters. I had some planted with Aster ‘Purple Dome’ and the effect was stunning. They also look great planted with yellow or copper color mums. If you’ve never tried an Anemone, you should because it truly is one of the finest fall perennials. We just received a large shipment of anemones and they are in bud ready to flower in your garden.