JAPANESE ANEMONE
Every year I wait for the arrival of the monarch butterflies. For much of the second half of the summer, one or two monarchs a day float through the yard, especially when the butterfly bushes are at their peak. But every year around this time, the numbers increase as the butterflies gear up for their big migration. Yesterday I stood transfixed as several of them flew in and out of the branches of the yellow butterfly bush, which generally holds on to its flowers longer than its purple relatives. The monarchs are slow in the morning, when it is chilly, but they come to life when the sun warms their wings. Some people might say that they never have the time to stand and watch the butterflies going about their business. I think that’s a shame.
The monarchs usually arrive just as the Japanese anemones come into their glory. I have written about the fall blooming anemones before, but it is still amazing to me that more people don’t grow them. Anemone means “windflower” and the fall blooming varieties have a delicacy that lives up to the name, with flowers that may remind you a little of cosmos or poppies. Most Japanese anemones on the market are actually hybrids, with parentage that includes a Chinese species, Anemone hupehensis. The common name, Japanese anemone, probably originated when the plants were first spotted in Japanese gardens over three hundred years ago. According to Denise Adams’ book, Restoring American Gardens, the plants were introduced in this country in 1844.
In my garden, Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’, is a star, having self seeded enough to fill up a corner by a rock wall. A seedling discovered by the famous French nurseryman Pierre Lemoine in 1900, ‘Robustissima’ sounds like it should be part truck driver. It is actually about three feet tall, with foliage that looks like large maple leaves. The stems arch gracefully, bent by the weight of the round, rose-colored flower buds. When the buds open, they reveal shell pink petals and collars of golden stamens that surround the greenish center of each flower. I used to think that it was impossible to use the arched stems effectively in flower arrangements, but last week I broke down and put several in a tall slender vase. The combination of the delicate flowers, gracefully drooping stems and rounded seedheads looked very Japanese. I could easily imagine them in an ikebana-style display.
Breeders are always working to create a better anemone, but I take great comfort in the fact that some of the oldest garden varieties are still the best. ‘Honorine Jobert’, with large, single-petaled white flowers, has been around since it was discovered as a seedling in a French garden in 1858. It is probably a sport, or spontaneous genetic mutation of an even older variety called ‘Elegans’, which features pink single flowers and grows to be about thirty inches tall. When the Royal Horticultural Society conducted plant trials on a number of Japanese anemones in 1997, Elegans was one of two cultivars that won the Society’s “Award of Garden Merit”, marking it as an exceptional garden plant. The RHS thinks that ‘Max Vogel’, another pink, single-flowered anemone, is the same plant as ‘Elegans’, but to my eye, ‘Max Vogel”s flower petals are somewhat more ruffled ‘Elegan’s’ petals. The best way to tell whether the two varieties are the same is to buy one of each and judge for yourself.
Another older variety, ‘Prince Henry’, sometimes goes by its original German name, ‘Prinz Heinrich’. Not surprisingly, this dark rose, double-flowered variety originated in Germany and was introduced by the grower Pfitzer in 1902. ‘Queen Charlotte’ is a double-flowered, pale pink anemone, sometimes known by the German name ‘Königen Charlotte’. Though its origins may have been German, it made its way into commerce in France in 1906, courtesy of the Lemoine nursery. If you want to grow an all-American antique variety, try ‘Whirlwind’, which has big white double flowers. It was introduced by nursery owner James Vick of Rochester, New York in 1887.
The fall blooming anemones look wonderful in the company of asters and chrysanthemums, especially mums in the pink and dusty rose color ranges. Planting those combinations would make a nice change from the usual russets, golds and oranges of autumn.
You can find ‘Queen Charlotte’ among the offerings of Jackson & Perkins, 2 Floral Avenue, Hodges, SC 29653, (800) 292-4769, www.jacksonandperkins.com. The other anemones mentioned above are available from Bluestone Perennials, 7211 Middle Ridge Road, Madison, OH 44057, www.bluestoneperennials.com. Catalogs from both companies are free.