Bulbs: Anemones, 0 by wallaby1

wallaby1 wrote:
Thanks for the vote of confidence beaker! What type of anemone do you have? Some are not very long lived, and some are just not good at all if they are the coronaria de caen group, it depends where they come from. I had some Mr Fokker and they did well for a year then gradually disappeared. This type (coronaria de caen) is mostly planted in the spring for summer flowers, some I got from J Parkers catalogue once were, as I discovered, very poor and very few grew. They were I think from Turkey, they also had some better ones which were Dutch grown, I complained and got a replacement. This was a special existing customer offer but had a different code, probably very cheap for them to buy.

They are best bought from a garden centre where you can see what you're getting, they should be a good size and not shrivelled looking. I wouldn't soak them, they will get moisture if you put them in the ground (adjust thinking for your own climate!) but should be very free draining. I have a couple that have hung on for a few years but don't do much. Too wet and cold and they will rot. I never soak bulbs, and only ever keep them slightly moist to start with, they don't need it. Imagine them with no roots to take up moisture, it will just soak into the bulb and rot it.

Anemone blanda is long lived if treated correctly, and will seed around. I put mine in pots of leafy compost in the autumn, this gave very good drainage, to get them started, left outside and they grew well. I planted them on a slope in sandy soil where they get part sun/shade. The have naturalised well and seedlings everywhere. The colour does go quite dark blue/violet but difficult to capture