This week... Anemones

You can grow anemones in borders, around trees and shrubs or in containers

- GRAHAM RICE

THE diverse group of plants known as anemones is made up of species that differ significantly in their size, in the garden situations they prefer and in their native habitats. All have in common saucer or cup-shaped flowers with up to about 20 petals in almost every colour of the rainbow. A few have extra petals creating a double flower.

The petals are arranged in rings around a dusty cluster of stamens carrying colourful pollen in a range of different shades, including yellow, white and blue. The result is flowers that look a little like daisies or wild roses, and the combination of the variety of petal colours and the range of pollen colour provides us with some delightful flowers.

Spoilt for choice

Anemones vary in height from a few centimetres to more than 1m, with some preferring sun and others shade. Some prefer cool, shaded conditions, while others are happier in hot, dry sites. Some remain tight and compact in growth, some spread strongly at the root. A few make fine, long-lasting cut flowers.

Anemones are not difficult to grow provided the right types are planted in the right situations.

The experts at one nursery explain: “From late summer to autumn, there is no other perennial flower quite like the anemone in the border. They are prized for their late-summer colour that lasts into the autumn. Their graceful flowers are freely and continuously produced on tall stems over lush mounding plants.”

Three kinds of anemone