My favorite plant for this week is Anemone nemorosa. To see other people's favorites, click on the link for Loree's Danger Garden, and look at the links in the comments section.
Anemone nemorosa is close to perfectly adapted to conditions in the Pacific Northwest, where the climate is dominated by alternating wet and dry seasons. Anemone nemorosa comes up in late winter or early spring as the temperatures warm up, and proceeds to carpet the ground in dense 2-3" foliage, soon studded with blooms that last for weeks. The foliage sticks around for a while, then eventually goes dormant in the heat and drought of the summer. More rhizomes are formed so that in a year or two it becomes a dense planting. It spreads more quickly than any gentle welcome plant I know. I'm thinking of Anemone nemorosa now because I'm digging up the dormant rhizomes to spread them around to some new shady places. They are 2-3" below the surface, and are replanted about the same.
Here is an example of the white variety that slowly becomes magenta with age.
Very beautiful but hard to photograph, and also slowest to spread, is the white 'Vestal' with a pom-pom center-
So, my favorite pick this week for the carpets of spring flowers, plant some now! Or enjoy the great fall-blooming tall Anemone japonicas and tomentosas, here Pamina-
Delightful flowers that take care of themselves in spring and fall! Hannah
Anemone nemorosa is close to perfectly adapted to conditions in the Pacific Northwest, where the climate is dominated by alternating wet and dry seasons. Anemone nemorosa comes up in late winter or early spring as the temperatures warm up, and proceeds to carpet the ground in dense 2-3" foliage, soon studded with blooms that last for weeks. The foliage sticks around for a while, then eventually goes dormant in the heat and drought of the summer. More rhizomes are formed so that in a year or two it becomes a dense planting. It spreads more quickly than any gentle welcome plant I know. I'm thinking of Anemone nemorosa now because I'm digging up the dormant rhizomes to spread them around to some new shady places. They are 2-3" below the surface, and are replanted about the same.
Here is an example of the white variety that slowly becomes magenta with age.
'Robinsoniana' starts out blue and fades light purple-
Very beautiful but hard to photograph, and also slowest to spread, is the white 'Vestal' with a pom-pom center-
So, my favorite pick this week for the carpets of spring flowers, plant some now! Or enjoy the great fall-blooming tall Anemone japonicas and tomentosas, here Pamina-
Delightful flowers that take care of themselves in spring and fall! Hannah
I have a few of these too, in my shady areas. They've only been here a couple of years, so no spreading so far. The clump has gotten bigger though. They're one of my favorites too, such a cheerful flower in the spring.
ReplyDeleteThey fill in well in an area where I have planted them extensively several inches apart, but to put them in a new area I need to dig them in the fall and replant the rhizomes. I'm amazed at how well they fill in.
DeleteHow pretty. I can see why it is a favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dorothy, I have big sheets of them blooming in spring.
DeleteLovely, I've been meaning to try these out .
ReplyDeleteI started out with just a few rhizomes of the 3 varieties, and spread them over time into big sheets of flowers in spring! Daffodils just don't multiply like that for me.
DeletePretty flowers and very interesting leaf shape, too
ReplyDeleteHappy Gardening!
Lea
They and the Columbines really make spring for me.
DeleteI got a chill looking at the photo of the rhizome, for a moment I thought of Bishops Weed and my removal project. But this looks to be an entirely different beast. The fifth picture says it all!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Loree! They are no problem at all, and disappear in the summer so some annuals can be grown where they were to fill in.
Delete