Anemone Coronaria (Windflower)

Temperature:
45-50 F

Here is a brilliant, colorful, poppy-like flower ideal for the cool greenhouse. A night temperature of no more than 45-50 F is necessary to assure blooming, and they can be grown from corms potted in September or seed sown in late spring. If you start from corms, use a mixture of rich loam, peatmoss and sand.

Place a layer of broken crock or gravel in the bottom of a bulb-pan, fill with soil to about 2 inches from the top. Press the pointed end of the corm into the mixture about 1 inch and space corms 2 to 3 inches apart, depending on the size of the bulb -pan. Cover with another inch of soil and a quarter-inch of clean, sharp sand, vermiculite or other sterile medium to help prevent damp-off.

Water sparingly until top growth is evident and keep cool; brilliant flowers of white, red, or blue-purple appear from January through March. When flowering has diminished, remove corms from pots and dry out for storing in a cool place until the following September.

Anemones may be grown from seed sown in sphagnum moss or other sterile medium to prevent damp-off. When large enough to handle, transfer the young plants to a large bulb-pan, where they will furnish blooms all winter starting in October.