June, 1911 



THE GARDEN M A G A Z I X E 



205 



and many treat them as such, but this 

 is not practical for beginners. 



THE POPPY ANEMONE 



The poppy anemone (Anemone coronaria) 

 doubtless takes its name from the poppy- 

 like brilliancy of its scarlet varieties, but 

 it can be had in maroon, mauve, rose, 

 lavender, flesh, white, pink, scarlet, blood, 

 and crimson; single or double; and 

 striped, zoned, or variegated. Moreover, 

 there are two types of doubling, one pro- 

 duced by the stamens turning into petals, 

 and one produced by pistils turning into 

 petals. In either case they are beautifully 

 set off by what the old florists called a set 

 of "guard petals." The largest flower 

 of which I have heard measured five 

 inches. There are two places in the world 

 where these flowers are grown to per- 

 fection — St. Brigid, in Ireland, and Caen, 

 in Normandy. The trade is not agreed as 

 to which place produces the better strain. 



THE SCARLET WTNDFLOWER 



The scarlet windflower (A. fulgens) 

 is celebrated for the vivid scarlet of its 

 starry blossoms. It differs from the poppy 

 anemone in having black stamens in- 

 stead of blue, and in having what the 

 beginner would call narrower "petals." 

 The botanists, however, declare that there 

 a re notrue petals in the genus anemone, 

 and that the parts which look like petals 

 are really sepals. The dazzling effect of 

 this wild flower in the Pyrenees suggests 

 the ideal way to use it — viz., to naturalize 

 it in woodlands, on banks, and in grass 

 orchards. 



Barr declares that this can be done 

 in England, and that if the roots are 

 planted in August, flowers may be had 

 from Christmas onward. He recommends 

 a southwest exposure and shelter from 

 ground winds. The plants should be 

 shaded from the hottest summer sunshine, 

 or else the roots will ripen too soon, and 

 start to grow in the fall. The roots must 

 never be planted while the ground is wet. 

 The single variety is more attractive in 

 form, but the double makes a more massive 

 effect in the garden and lasts longer. 

 The true double is hard to get, as Chapeau 

 de Cardinal, a variety of the poppy 

 anemone, is often substituted for it. The 

 most striking form is the variety annulata 

 grandiflora, which has scarlet petals, with 

 a yellow base, and jet black stamens. . 



THE PEACOCK ANEMONE 



The peacock anemone (A. hortensis 

 or stellata) is difficult to explain. Hor- 

 tensis, of course, means "of the gardens," 

 and some writers use this to include all 

 the varieties descended from coronaria 

 and fulgens. I prefer, however, to follow 

 Davis, who treats it as a native to southern 

 Europe distinguished from coronaria by 

 its narrow petals, and from fulgens by its 

 brownish violet stamens, the flowers being 

 about an inch and a half across. Barr 

 calls the peacock anemone "the starry 

 windflower of the Riviera" as distinguished 



from "the starry windflower of the Pyre- 

 nees," which is fulgens. This is the famous 

 wild flower that fills the vineyards and 

 hedgerows at Nice, in spots where it is 

 not blown to pieces by the winds. The 

 color range is given by Davis as red, rosy- 

 purple, or whitish. There is no standard 

 nomenclature in the trade, and the name 

 hortensis has almost disappeared from 

 bulb catalogues. 



THE CAROLINA ANEMONE 



Since the garden anemones are unrivaled 

 during the latter half of May, the great 

 question arises, "Can they be adapted in 

 any way to American conditions — e. g., 

 by hybridizing them with some Ameri- 

 can species?" The most closely related 

 anemone we have is the Carolina anemone 

 (A. Carolwiana). Doubtless this species is 



much inferior to the garden anemones, 

 and whether it could inject any great 

 amount of hardiness is dubious. Britton 

 describes it as a purple flower, varying to 

 white, attaining an inch and a half in 

 width, and with a tuber only a third of 

 an inch in diameter. It blooms in April 

 or May, and grows four to ten inches high. 

 No one offers it for sale, unless A. decapetala 

 of European catalogues should chance to 

 be the same thing. It grows wild from 

 Illinois to Nebraska, and south to Georgia 

 and Texas. 



ANY ONE CAN GROW SYLVESTRIS 



We now come to an exquisite flower 

 that any one can grow, the snowdrop 

 anemone (A. sylvestris). This is a pure 

 white, fragrant, nodding flower an inch 

 and a half across. Everybody who knows 



The suowdrop anemone (.4. sylvestris). a fragrant, waxy flower on a long, wiry stem 



