![]() ![]() Because the foliage dies back in summer, it can be easy to lose track of their location.These plants don’t like wet feet, and good drainage is a must to prevent rhizome rot.Keep the following tips in mind to get the most from your windflowers: Move containers to a frost-free location, or dig up and store the corms for winter. Plants should not be left to overwinter in containers that are subject to freeze and thaw cycles. In regions with prolonged periods of temperatures below freezing, add a two to four-inch layer of mulch for winter protection. Backfill the planting holes and gently tamp the soil in place.Space corms two to three inches apart to allow room for their spreading habit.And remember, there is no correct up, down, or sideways with these corms – pop them in the holes and they will know how to grow! Create small planting holes and plant corms three to four inches deep.To improve drainage, mix in a shovelful of landscape sand or pea gravel.Mix in some bone meal or bulb fertilizer, according to package instructions, to form strong, healthy roots.Loosen the soil with a garden fork and mix in a shovelful of aged compost, leaf mold, or well-rotted manure.Before planting, soak corms overnight or for 12 hours to aid with germination.The gnarly little corms show no clear signs of which end is top or bottom, and will grow just fine regardless of which way they are planted. They prefer a full sun location, but are also tolerant of partial shade. Once plants have gone dormant, the soil may be allowed to dry out. Amend your planting sites with sand or pea gravel if needed, to prevent standing water issues, which can lead to root rot. They enjoy loose, humus-rich soil that’s well-draining, and kept evenly moist during the growing season. How to GrowĮasily cultivated, windflowers are typically planted in fall. You can learn more about how to divide perennials in our guide. Ensure each division has a healthy rhizome and crown, then replant divisions to the same depth and water in well.Brush away any loose soil and gently untangle the roots.Using a garden fork, dig out six to eight inches from the center and lift the fibrous root mass.Lift clumps in midsummer, after plants have gone dormant.Propagation by root division brings better results, with flowers typically appearing in three months. Allow seedlings to overwinter under a thick layer of mulch, then plant out the following spring. If you have established plants and you want to give this a try, seeds can be harvested when ripe and sown in a cold frame of loose, well-draining soil. New plants can be started from seed, but the results are inconsistent, as germination can be unreliable, and seedlings are slow growing – flowers won’t appear until the second year of growth. Windflowers spread and form clumps through bulb offsets underground, and propagate naturally by self-seeding above ground as well. About a month after flowering, the delicate, parsley-like foliage yellows and dies back.Ī Note of Caution: Grecian windflowers are toxic when ingested, and should be kept away from children and pets. They typically bloom for four to six weeks in late winter through early spring, and go dormant for the summer and through the fall. They quickly reopen once the sun rises, attracting butterflies and other pollinators. The name anemone is derived from the Greek word anemos, which means wind, while blanda means mild or charming – and charming they are!Īn excellent spring ground cover, plants grow to a height of four to eight inches and form mats of color with delightful, daisy-like flowers.ĭeep azure blue is the primary color you’ll see, but many cultivars come in shades of magenta, mauve, pink, or white, as well as bicolor combinations.įlowers feature sunny eyes of gold-green, and the petals close at night. Native to southeastern Europe and the Middle East to the Caucasus, including the Balkans, Turkey, and Greece, they’re one of the first flowers to appear in the spring garden – often flowering before winter is officially over. Anemone blanda, or Grecian windflowers, are a species in the Anemone genus, members of the Ranunculaceae (buttercup) family, and are tuberous herbaceous perennials grown from fall-planted corms. ![]()
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