Anemones 



its leaves, that look as though they should be evergreen, 

 they are so dark and of such firm texture : the flowers are 

 of a very cold white, and perhaps rather small for the 

 important-looking leaves. I have brought home a blue- 

 flowered form of singular beauty from the Dolomites, but 

 it has not yet grown strong enough to show its beauty here, 

 and whether or no in changing its sky it will not change 

 its sky colour also. The Japanese A. flaccida is good for 

 a moist position, but gets thirsty and tired and then faints 

 on warm days in an ordinary border. The leaves are very 

 attractive, as they vary in colour from youth to age. At 

 first they are a golden bronze, then turn a bright green 

 spotted with white, and end by being dark green marbled 

 with grey, and a good-sized clump will bear many shades 

 of green at one time. They suggest the leaves of a 

 Buttercup in shape and general appearance, but are seen 

 to be too glossy for any common one when looked at 

 carefully. The flowers are about the size of Wood Ane- 

 mones, but more creamy in colour. The various forms 

 and near relatives of A. Pulsatilla are delightful plants for 

 edgings to borders or grouping among other plants in 

 good, broad masses. I find the best way to establish them 

 is to sow seed as soon as ripe, either where you want 

 them or in a reserve ground, and pricking out the resulting 

 plants when about a year old. Sown as soon as gathered 

 they germinate freely in a few weeks, and look wonder- 

 fully like small Buttercups for their first season, and not 

 till the following Spring will they produce the finely-cut 

 leaves they bear ever after. They dislike disturbance and 

 interference with their long tap-root, so are rather difficult 

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