Supposed to be Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima', grape leaf anemone, but this mismarked plant is "September Charm', Anemone hupehensis.
From Bluestone Perennials in fall 2018.Photos
Expectations:
Fine Gardening says light moist soil encourages anemones to spread -- dry soils keep it from being so aggressive, and this spot under the dining room window is dry, although I will need to water it.
The plant needs to avoid soggy conditions in winter, so the dry spot under the cottonwood tree is good.
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| August 22, 2021 |
I grew grape leaf anemone in sun in CT, in moist rich soil in my old garden. The late summer flowers charmed me.
I saw several pink flowered anemones here (maybe 'Robustissima') blooming in July on the Santa Fe "Behind Adobe Walls" garden tour we took and decided I could plant 'Robustissima' here.
My former plant had giant flower stalks rising several feet above the foliage -- the buds and blooms were just gorgeous, but it did get big and flopped over and needed staking.
It turns out Anemone tomentosa is a spreader and very aggressive, while the plant I actually received, September Charm, is Anemone hupehensis and is much better behaved and smaller.
While I wanted the delicate shell pink upward facing flowers, Anemone hupehensis has dark rose flowers that face down. That's a disappointment, but this mismarked plant, less aggressive and smaller, is probably better for my garden here.
Experiences:
And that's when I figured out the blooms were not shell pink, upward facing. They were dark rose, downward nodding -- September Charm, not Robustissima!
It took forever to do anything. In its second year, it was still a tiny plug of just a few leaves, smaller than when first planted. Healthy enough, and it even sent out a runner that I transplanted nearby this spring. But so, so tiny.
But the cottonwood wasn't as full in summer 2020, and more light filtered through and I was watering more, and . . .
. . . . in 2020 it started to put on some size and flower well.
In 2021 it finally got some real presence and bloomed a lot.
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| August 22, 2021 |
By summer 2021 it was finally starting to have real shape and form, finally growing.
Seen from inside the window, I get the backs of the flowers, not the pretty upward facing blooms I had wanted showing into the room.
Disappointed it's not the plant I wanted, but glad to see it growing, healthy, and finally blooming well. And the smaller size less aggressive plant is probably better here.
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| September 2022 |
In 2023 I was getting a lot of runners. I need to stay on top of them and pull them as they pop up nearby.
🌸
My Robustissima anemone in Connecticut was huge, and a really big full plant right from the start. It grew out in full sun, and it grew fast and big and didn't seem to mind not being in shade.
Just for comnparison, in full sun and wet conditions, never cut back in mid June, this is what 'Robustissima' looked like in September in my old garden:
My Robustissima anemone in Connecticut was huge, and a really big full plant right from the start. It grew out in full sun, and it grew fast and big and didn't seem to mind not being in shade.
Just for comnparison, in full sun and wet conditions, never cut back in mid June, this is what 'Robustissima' looked like in September in my old garden:
