The genus Anemone contains well over a hundred species distributed through temperate regions of Europe, Asia, North America, and elsewhere. Some are woodland perennials, some are late-summer and autumn flowers, and others grow from small, rather unpromising-looking tubers that produce some of the brightest flowers of spring.
For the bulb garden, two Mediterranean species are especially important: Anemone coronaria, the poppy anemone, and Anemone blanda, often called the Grecian windflower.
Why Are Anemones Called Windflowers?
The name Anemone has ancient roots. Greek writers associated the flower with anemos, meaning "wind," and the traditional name "windflower" has followed it for centuries.
There are various legends explaining the connection. In classical mythology, anemones became associated with Aphrodite and the death of Adonis, and later writers embellished the flower's story considerably.
But one hardly needs mythology to understand the name. Watch a bed of anemones on a breezy spring day. Their slender stems allow the flowers to nod and sway while remaining remarkably resilient.
The name suits them.
Anemone coronaria — The Poppy Anemone
Among the most spectacular garden anemones is Anemone coronaria, native to the Mediterranean region and parts of western Asia.
Its flowers can resemble small poppies, usually with a conspicuous dark center surrounded by broad petals. Colors include scarlet, crimson, blue, violet, pink, white, and mixtures of these shades.
Two traditional groups are especially familiar to gardeners.
De Caen anemones generally produce large, single flowers and are excellent for borders and cutting gardens.
St. Brigid anemones produce semi-double or double flowers with a fuller, somewhat ruffled appearance.
Both make splendid cut flowers. In fact, Anemone coronaria has long been valued by the florist trade because its stems are elegant and its colors unusually intense.
Anemone blanda — The Grecian Windflower
Anemone blanda is a smaller and altogether different creature.
Rather than producing the tall, poppy-like flowers of A. coronaria, it forms low carpets of daisy-like blossoms, usually in shades of blue, lavender, pink, or white.
It is particularly effective beneath deciduous trees and shrubs, along woodland edges, in rock gardens, and toward the front of perennial borders.
Where conditions suit it, Anemone blanda can naturalize and spread into handsome colonies. A scattering of blue windflowers beneath still-bare spring branches has a quiet woodland beauty that regimented rows simply cannot reproduce.
Those Strange Little "Bulbs"
When you first open a package of dormant anemones, disappointment would be understandable.
They don't look like much.
The dormant structures commonly sold as "anemone bulbs" are actually tubers. They are small, hard, brown, shriveled objects that sometimes look more like dried bits of bark than something capable of producing flowers.
Don't judge them by appearances. Once hydrated and planted, those peculiar little tubers awaken remarkably quickly.
Should Anemone Tubers Be Soaked Before Planting?
Soaking is commonly recommended, particularly for Anemone coronaria.
Before planting, place the dry tubers in room-temperature water for approximately three to four hours. This allows them to absorb moisture and begin rehydrating.
There is no advantage in leaving them submerged for days. A modest soaking is sufficient.
After soaking, plant them promptly.
Some gardeners pre-sprout anemone tubers before planting, particularly when raising them commercially for cut flowers. For the ordinary home garden, however, soaking followed by direct planting is usually quite adequate.
Which Way Is Up?
This question has puzzled generations of gardeners because anemone tubers often seem deliberately designed to conceal the answer.
Fortunately, it doesn't matter very much.
If you can identify a pointed or growing side, position it upward. If you cannot—and often you cannot—plant the tuber on its side.
The plant will sort matters out underground. Plants have been doing this sort of thing considerably longer than gardeners have.
When Should Anemones Be Planted?
Planting time depends upon climate and the type of anemone being grown.
In regions with relatively mild winters, Anemone coronaria can often be planted in autumn for late-winter or spring flowers. This is particularly useful in much of the South.
Where winters are severe, the tubers are more commonly planted in early spring, once the ground can be worked. They will then flower later in spring or early summer.
Anemone blanda is considerably more cold hardy and is normally planted in autumn alongside crocuses, daffodils, and other spring-flowering bulbs.
Always consider the hardiness of the particular species or cultivar rather than assuming that all anemones behave alike.
Where Should Anemones Be Planted?
For Anemone coronaria, choose a position with full sun to light shade and, above all, well-drained soil.
They dislike waterlogged ground. Heavy, soggy winter soil can rot the tubers before they ever have an opportunity to flower.
A loose, fertile garden soil enriched with compost is excellent. Raised beds are particularly useful where drainage is questionable.
Anemone blanda tolerates more woodland-like conditions and performs well beneath deciduous trees, where it receives abundant sunlight in early spring before the trees leaf out.
How Deep Should You Plant Them?
Anemone tubers do not need to be buried deeply.
Plant Anemone coronaria roughly 2 to 3 inches deep, spacing the tubers approximately 3 to 6 inches apart, depending upon whether you want individual plants or a fuller massed display.
Anemone blanda tubers can likewise be planted a few inches deep and look best in informal groups or drifts.
Anemones are flowers that benefit greatly from generosity. Three plants may look accidental. Thirty can look magnificent.
Watering Anemones
Water thoroughly after planting, then maintain moderate moisture while the plants are actively growing.
The soil should be moist but never continuously saturated.
Once flowering has finished, allow the foliage to remain until it yellows naturally. As with other plants grown from bulbs, corms, and tubers, the leaves are replenishing the underground storage organ for the next growing season.
Do not cut healthy green foliage merely because the flowers have disappeared.
Growing Anemones in Containers
Anemones are excellent container plants.
Because the tubers are small, a surprisingly large number can be planted in a moderate-sized pot. Good drainage is essential, so use a container with drainage holes and a quality, free-draining potting mixture.
Pots can be planted quite densely for a concentrated display.
Anemones also combine beautifully with other spring bulbs. Their relatively delicate flowers provide a useful contrast to the heavier forms of tulips and daffodils.
Anemones as Cut Flowers
Anyone interested in a cutting garden should seriously consider Anemone coronaria.
Cut the flowers when they are beginning to open rather than waiting until they are fully mature. Use a clean, sharp knife or snips and place the stems promptly in fresh water.
The combination of slender stems, vivid petals, and contrasting centers gives anemones a character quite different from roses, tulips, or daffodils.
A simple vase containing nothing but anemones needs little improvement.
Do Deer and Rabbits Eat Anemones?
Anemones are generally regarded as less attractive to deer and rabbits than many common garden plants, although no flowering plant should be considered completely safe when hungry animals are determined enough.
Their relative resistance can make them useful additions to spring gardens where tulips regularly suffer from browsing.
Pollinating insects, on the other hand, may visit the open flowers.
Will Anemones Return Every Year?
That depends heavily upon the species and climate.
Anemone blanda is a genuine perennial in suitable conditions and can naturalize beautifully.
Anemone coronaria is perennial by nature, but its long-term garden performance varies considerably with climate. Where winters are mild and soils remain well drained, the tubers may survive and flower again. In colder regions they are often treated more like tender bulbs and either lifted for winter or replanted annually.
Poor drainage during dormancy is one of their greatest enemies.
Using Windflowers in the Garden
For the strongest effect, plant anemones in groups rather than isolated specimens.
Use Anemone coronaria in sunny borders, cottage gardens, cutting gardens, raised beds, and containers. Their intense reds, blues, whites, and pinks pair particularly well with spring bulbs and emerging perennials.
Use Anemone blanda differently. Allow it to wander beneath deciduous shrubs, along paths, around the feet of trees, or through informal woodland gardens.
The distinction is useful: A. coronaria provides drama; A. blanda provides enchantment.
Flowers Made for the Wind
Anemones possess a quality many modern bedding plants lack. They don't look manufactured.
Their stems lean. Their petals catch the light. A breeze sets the whole planting into motion. Even the grandest varieties retain something of the wildflower about them.
And perhaps that is why the ancient name has endured.
Plant the strange little tubers when the garden is settling toward winter. Give them decent soil, good drainage, sunlight, and a little patience. By spring, those dry brown fragments will have become flowers dancing above finely cut foliage.
Windflowers indeed.
Return to GoGardenNow.com.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment