Anemone ∗ The 10 best care and planting tips (anemone)

Planting and caring for anemone (anemone)

Planting anemone properly

The anemone will easily live up to its title of “Perennial of the Year” if you plant the flower in March / April or August / September in the following way:

Let the tuber soak in water for 12-24 hours
Dig small pits 6-10 cm deep, with a distance between 10 and 25 cm
Insert the rhizome in the middle, press the soil with your hands and water

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When planting, pay attention to the polarity of the tuber. The shoot tips must be directed upwards and should only be covered thinly with substrate. A thin layer of mulch supports the process of rooting.

Care tips

The minimal care program for anemones is limited to the following aspects:

Water when it is dry, without watering the flowers and leaves
Apply liquid fertilizer every 14 days from March to the end of the flowering period
Mulching with compost, clippings, or nettle leaves
Clean up withered and faded
Do not cut back until all sheets have been drawn in

The anemone thrives in all its spring-fresh splendor where it is quiet. So avoid frequent raking and other disturbances.

Which location is suitable?

Since even a mild breeze makes the flower tremble, the choice of location requires special consideration with regard to wind exposure. The anemone thrives easily in these locations:

Sunny to partially shaded location
In sufficiently moist soil also in a sunny place
Sheltered from the wind, preferably under deciduous trees and along hedges

Avoid the proximity of anemones to plum trees and other prunus plants, as both types of plants can harbor a common fungal pathogen that happily switches from one to the other.

The correct planting distance

For the dainty bush anemone we recommend a planting distance of 10-15 cm. If the flower acts as a flowering ground cover, place 25 plants per square meter. If you prefer the forest anemone, which grows up to 40 cm high, the distance to the neighboring plant is 25 cm, or 16 specimens per square meter.

What soil does the plant need?

If you encounter anemones in the wild, they thrive in the airy, loose forest floor. The better the soil in the garden can cope with this natural soil quality, the more at home the flower will feel. This is how the substrate should be:

Nutrient-rich and humic
Loose, with unhindered drainage
Fresh and moist, without the risk of waterlogging

What is the best time to plant?

The anemone is planted twice a year. You can choose to plant the tubers in the soil in March / April or August / September. Planting in the sun-warm soil in late summer proves to be conducive to rapid root formation. The flower has established itself well when winter knocks on the garden gate.

When is the flowering time?

The flower owes its crowning achievement as “Perennial of the Year” not least to its wide variety of varieties with blooming times throughout the gardening season. Combined prudently, the filigree flowers adorn the bed and the tub without ceasing. The following arrangement may serve as a source of ideas:

Balkan anemone “White Splendor”: flowering time from February to March / April
Yellow anemone: flowering time from March to April / May
Wood anemone “Elise Fellmann”: flowering time from May to June / July
Autumn anemone “Prinz Heinrich”: flowering time from July to September

How to cut anemone properly

It makes sense to cut the flower on different occasions. Freshly bloomed, cut the stems close to the ground as a decorative vase ornament. Cutting off withered flower heads increases the flowering time by weeks. Experienced hobby gardeners do not completely cut back the leaves until late in the year, so that the tuber can store all the remaining nutrients as an energy reserve.

Water anemone

Water the flower regularly as soon as the soil dries up. This may also be necessary under a canopy after a downpour. If you cultivate anemones in pots or balcony boxes, the daily thumb test in the morning will reveal whether there is a need to water.

Fertilize anemone properly

Since spring-flowering anemones spread their roots just below the surface of the earth, the use of liquid fertilizer in both the bed and the tub is advantageous. How to do it right:

In the bed from March to the end of the flowering period, fertilize every 2 weeks with nettle or comfrey manure
Alternatively, sprinkle and rain fertilizer granules according to the dosage instructions
Supply the flower in the planter on the balcony with commercially available liquid fertilizer

Ideally, mulch with a thin layer of compost, grass clippings or nettle leaves. Avoid working fertilizers into the soil to avoid damaging the delicate roots.

Diseases

There are primarily two common fungal infections that can bother an anemone. Both soot and anemone rust are expressed in the form of brownish-black leaf spots, as a result of which photosynthesis comes to a standstill and the plant dies.

Sooty mildew is caused by aphids, the control of which keeps the disease in check. Anemone rust is a pathogen that switches between stone fruit plants and anemones. Therefore, avoid a location of anemones near plum and plum trees.

Pests

The aphids that are omnipresent in the garden do not stop at anemones. At the first sign, act vehemently against the pests by treating the flower with the classic soap solution. For this purpose, 1 tablespoon of pure curd soap and alcohol are mixed in 1 liter of water, filled into a spray bottle and applied.

Overwinter

Anemones have a stable winter hardiness without which they would not be able to develop their early flowering. In rough locations, however, the flower is grateful for a protective layer of leaves and brushwood from the first frost. The following measures are advisable every year in the planter:

Wrap the pot or planter box thickly with foil or jute
Place the vessel on styrofoam or wood in front of the south wall of the house
Cover the substrate with leaves, straw, sticks or wood wool

Propagate anemone

For the propagation of anemones, the multi-faceted plant genus offers several methods to choose from:

Division of the roots in spring or autumn
Cut cuttings during flowering, plant in small pots and let root
Cut off root runners and place in poor substrate
Sowing the seeds after stratifying the cold germs

The first three propagation techniques succeed in the hobby garden without any problems. The sowing, on the other hand, extends over a cultivation period of 12-14 months until the first flowering can be expected.

How do I transplant properly?

Transplanting anemones is not just about changing location, it is the perfect opportunity to rejuvenate the perennial. Follow these steps:

A wisely chosen date is a day in early spring
Use the digging fork to loosen the tuber and its roots
Slide the spade under the plant to lift it out of the ground
Divide the root ball into two or more segments
A section has at least 2 buds

In the new location, plant the anemones as deep as before and pour a good sip of water on them.

Anemone in the pot

The anemone is not a typical flower for pot culture, but you are welcome to try the experiment. Use compost-based potting soil as the substrate. Place a few pottery shards on the bottom of the pot as drainage before filling in the soil. Make sure that the planting depth largely corresponds to the previous value. How to properly care for the anemone in the pot:

Water regularly when the top inches of the substrate feel dry
Apply liquid fertilizer every 14 days from March to the end of the flowering period
Clean up withered flower heads

At the end of flowering, it is beneficial to leave the foliage on the plant until it has completely withered. Until the next season, place the pot in a partially shaded, frost-free place and make sure that the tuber does not dry out completely. In early spring, repot the anemone in fresh substrate.

Is anemone poisonous?

The extensive genus of the anemones is one of the buttercups. Thus there is a botanical relationship with highly poisonous plants such as monkshood or hellebore. Although the toxicity of anemones is lower, they should not be grown in gardens where children and pets can be found. The temptation to pick the flower and nibble on it is too great.

Anemone does not bloom

If an anemone plant that was planted the previous year just doesn't want to bloom, put the site conditions to the test. The flower prefers shady to partially shaded light conditions. If it is too dark, there will be no bloom. If, on the other hand, an older perennial develops plenty of leaf mass without showing a flower, it will suffer from excess nitrogen. Switch to organic fertilization or give a specific phosphate-based preparation.

Brown leaves

With brown leaves, the anemone communicates its displeasure about neglect in care. Examine the framework for the following triggers:

Drought stress: pour regularly directly on the roots
Waterlogging: repot or replant in dry substrate
Anemone rust: relocation out of the reach of stone fruit trees
Sooty mildew: control of aphids, treatment with an approved fungicide

Yellow leaves

Yellow leaves on anemones indicate leaf chlorosis. The jaundice is triggered by a lack of iron in the substrate. This undersupply occurs when the calcium content shoots up and blocks the important nutrient. Waterlogging and wet and cold weather also cause the damage. Check the pH value and fertilize with a special iron fertilizer from specialist shops if the value is well above 7.

The most beautiful varieties

Bracteata Pleniflora: pretty bush anemone with white, green-edged semi-double flowers; Height of growth 15 cm
Robinsoniana: lavender blue spring beauty with a delicate habit; Growth height 10-20 cm
Alba plena: fantastically beautiful anemone with pure white, bulging flowers in April and May; Growth height 20-45 cm
Forest anemone: the robust native anemone with a long flowering period from May to July / August; Height of growth 15 cm
Leipzig bush anemones: impresses with creamy yellow flowers from March; Growth height 10-20 cm
Charmer: magnificent Balkan anemone with rose-red ray flowers from February / March; Height 10-15 cm