I thought I'd better post these photos of a new blue anemone before I actually put them in the ground and probably kill them. The tag says it blooms spring to fall, I'm dubious. Looking these up on the Internet and in several resources I don't see any indication that they bloom except in the fall. I have the Whirlybird white anemone which does bloom faithfully every fall, the flowers are much smaller and more delicate than these big fellas. These blue ones remind me of an Oriental poppy in size and I like that dark eye in the center which is rimmed by flower eyelashes. The wind has blown fiercely all week and by now most of the petals have blown off. Sure glad I took a picture.
Last Sunday, before the wind drove me inside, I finally managed to dig, yank, and hack out a rose by the front walk which has been snagging the mailman for a number of years. It used to be Bibi Maizoon, a heavenly cabbage rose that I adored. But Bibi died back to rootstock one winter and ever after it bloomed once a year as a small, pale pink, open-faced rose. It was okay so I left it. But last year all it grew was a giant tangle of thorny branches and no flowers at all.
Once I got it out of there, I was able to see a nice little clump of Minnow narcissus which I had forgotten about. They're such tiny blossoms they were dwarfed under all the rose canes.
Out in the bed by the front walk these Darwin tulips are in bloom. I'm pretty sure these are Pink Impression, I vaguely remember planting some a few years ago. So these must be them.
The Canada Goose decoy guards the bed of tulips. I have a few of these decoys in the beds in the front yard. I don't know why I like kitschy stuff in the garden, but I can't seem to help myself. The garter snakes like to curl up under these. The rose in the rear is Betty Prior, gearing up to snag passersby. I have to keep the front side of it hacked nearly flat so the neighborhood children don't get scratched as they go up and down the sidewalks on their riding toys. Bad placement of a rose, but then I never thought it would thrive.
I did find some blue pansies to plant around my tulip bed. I'd seen a picture of this and thought it would be very pretty to accent all the bright colors with the more subdued blue. When I got to the garden center I was wowed by all the shades of the pansies, and I ended up with several flats full of jewel colors in my cart. Then I got a grip and reminded myself of my original intention. So out went the jewel colors and in came the blue. I'm glad I was able to restrain myself because I like the way this looks.
10 comments:
Oh, so pretty! I envy your lovely flower beds. Would you post pictures of these beds from a distance?
Wow, those new anemones are certainly a very pretty blue.
How nice to see so much colour in your garden now. Lovely tulips everywhere and good thinking (plus iron willpower) on buying only blue pansies, they look lovely with your tulips!
BTW a bit of kitsch is fun to have in the garden. ;-)
I love the Anemone, the dark center sets it off very nicely. I hope it lives up to the tag.
Your tulips look great and the blue pansies set them off well.
This sure does contrast your preblue anemone vious post, Lost Roses!
I still remember your snow pics - fresh in my mind.
Pink tulips, pink roses, yellow roses, and other colors are very nice. But I love the BLUE. There is something about blue flowers that draws me to them. Your blue anemone photo is absolutely gorgeous. Wow.
At least you really did grow Bibi Maizoon for awhile- I've always found the catalog photos intriguing, but never grew it.
Following is a guess about what the Harmony Blues are... it's a reasonable guess, but there are so many new plants out there that it may be wrong. And you probably know all of it anyway, but just in case you haven't run into them before:
LostRoses, I think your Whirlwind white is an Anemone japonica hybrid, a hardy, herbaceous, fall-blooming perennial type of Anemone, while the new blue anemone is Anemone coronaria, or Grecian windflower, which are grown from corms that are planted in fall like tulips and daffodils to bloom in spring-early summer.
It appears that what you have are container grown corms, brought to the bloom stage and sold as plants all ready to plug into your beds for spring color, much like the pots of blooming Tete a Tete daffodils or hyacinth that are available now.
I'm not sure what your zone is - but if you're lucky, they'll go dormant, then return next spring like other spring bulbs. And they sure are gorgeous!
Annie
Those blue anemones are beautiful.
They look bigger and the petals are different than those of my Grecian windflowers. I noticed one of mine blooming today. The blooms of mine are very tiny, about the size of a quarter.
Well, whatever it is, I hope it does continue to bloom for you.
Lost Roses, pardon my comment as I'm still having trouble with the computer keyboard...
I meant to say, "This sure does contrast your previous post, Lost Roses!"
You are probably wonder what I was drinking... :o)
Lynne, they aren't so pretty seen from a distance, but I'll try to take one anyway!
Yolanda, I think because I don't have flowered wellies, I'm making up for it with the kitsch. Do you think?
Apple, I find that tags routinely lie. Or maybe we should call it "wishful thinking." But I'm still a sucker for a "pretty face" on a flower, whether I believe the claims or not.
No, Mary, I didn't think you were drinking and I knew exactly what you meant! Haven't we all gotten really good at reading what was meant to be written? (Kind of like the kids with their text messaging!)I'm a sucker for blue plants, too, and I always notice them first.
Annie, as Bibi Maizoon got older, it was real susceptible to balling, when the blooms fail to open. I think that's a hazard of very double-petalled roses, but I enjoyed those fat buds too!
You're right about the Whirlwind being a japonica (I called it Whirlybird, I guess I was thinking about nasturtiums!) Thanks for the insight into the Harmony Blue. I'm still a bit confused though, now that I've read Zoe's comment about it being much larger than her Grecian Windflowers. Well, I've planted it, so time will tell! Oh, by the way, I'm in Zone 5 here.
Zoey, I'm glad to have the comparison to your Grecian Windflowers. I've seen those over the years in catalogs but never had any first-hand knowledge of how big the blooms are.
I kept looking around, LostRoses, and maybe this is better information. Another site gives "Poppy Windflower" as a common name for Anemone coronaria, and says it is grown in large numbers in greenhouses.
Then a site said that the common name "Grecian Windflower" was used for Anemone blanda, a hardy corm. I guess that's the one Zoey grows.
I have a Anemone coronaria open now that's about 4 inches in diameter -much bigger than a quarter.
Well, anyway - they're all Windflowers, and all pretty!
Annie
I like the name Poppy Windflower, Annie, and now I'm intrigued by the different varieties our searches have turned up. What color is your anemone that is open now? And here I thought I always had to wait until fall to see anemones! I'll be curious to see what this blue one does.
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