JAPANESE WIND FLOWERS - Available at the Dragonfly Nursery One of the stars of the autumn garden is surely the perennial plant known as the Japanese windflower (Anemone hupehensis and Anemone x hybrida). At the end of February, firm stems up to 1m or more tall, holding clusters of plump buds, arise from basal clumps of grapevine-like leaves. These buds open in March and April to simple but beautiful cup-shaped flowers in shades of pale pink, darker pinks or white, with single or double rows of silken petals. The single white form is possibly the most graceful in its elegant simplicity as the flowers hover in the air high above the foliage like exotic moths, but all the windflower cultivars are lovely. Originating in China, these perennials have been bred over the years to produce a wide range of named cultivars, although often they are sold in nurseries simply described by colour and form. Honorine Jobert is the classic single white windflower; Whirlwind is a semi-double flowered white version; Bowles Pink is a beautiful single form with deep rosy pink petals edged in white; Margarete is a deep pink semi-double type; and September Charm has a pale pink single flower. Japanese windflowers preference is for a part-shaded situations. They do appreciate a soil enriched with organic matter, and reasonable moisture in order to get established, but once they are ensconced, they can cope with drier conditions, and are in fact almost impossible to get rid of! They do have a tendency to spread, via a creeping rootstock, but they can be controlled with a shovel and should be sited in the first instance in a place where their encroaching habit is not going to smother small treasures or cause problems. Windflowers also look appropriate roaming through lightly shaded spots with Camellia sasanqua which are in full bloom at this time, in a similar range of colours to the windflowers, and with the same simple flower form. The bold foliage and spreading habit of the windflowers provide a good low maintenance groundcover in such areas, except for a brief period after flowering when the old leaves and stems should be cut right back to allow fresh growth to emerge.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 21:02:37 +0000
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