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Gardening 101: Japanese Anemones – Gardenista

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Japanese Anemone, A. hupehensis: “Daughter of the Wind”

There’s a nondescript, partially shaded corner of my garden that is frankly rather dull until finally it comes into its own in September. That’s when the gorgeous Japanese anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’  produces its pearly buds as a subtle preview of the real show—white flowers bobbing delicately on tall wire-thin stems. What makes these flowers so outstanding is their brilliant centers: bright green seed heads surrounded by a thicket of orangey yellow stamens.

Surprisingly Japanese anemones aren’t Japanese at all. This corner of my garden is actually home to natives of China. Read on to hear the story of how they came to Brooklyn (and gardens in other countries):

Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Gardenista.

Early European plant explorers first discovered windflowers in Japan, where they had been imported and cultivated by gardeners for generations. (The anemones, which frequently like to grow where they want instead of where you plant them, had escaped into the wild and naturalized.)  The Europeans labeled the plants Anemone japonica.
Above: Early European plant explorers first discovered windflowers in Japan, where they had been imported and cultivated by gardeners for generations. (The anemones, which frequently like to grow where they want instead of where you plant them, had escaped into the wild and naturalized.)  The Europeans labeled the plants Anemone japonica.

Today the plant has been re-named Anemone hupehensis, or Chinese anemone. It is a native of Hubei province in eastern China. The Victorian plant hunter Robert Fortune discovered it growing in a cemetery in Shanghai and introduced it in Europe in 1844.
Above: Today the plant has been re-named Anemone hupehensis, or Chinese anemone. It is a native of Hubei province in eastern China. The Victorian plant hunter Robert Fortune discovered it growing in a cemetery in Shanghai and introduced it in Europe in 1844.

There are more than 120 species of Anemone but unlike some of the others that grow from tubers or rhizomes, Anemone hupehensis is a tall (typically 2 to 4 feet in height) long-lived perennial with fibrous roots that can spread via underground stems.
Above: There are more than 120 species of Anemone but unlike some of the others that grow from tubers or rhizomes, Anemone hupehensis is a tall (typically 2 to 4 feet in height) long-lived perennial with fibrous roots that can spread via underground stems.

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