October, 1911 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



Hi 





The florists want large, double flowers with broad 

 petals. (Prince Henry) 



the flowers or even a light freeze, but if a 

 freeze threatens cover the plants with heavy 

 boxes or papers. An easy way to prolong 

 the season is to plant some in a warm and 

 sunny spot for September, and some on the 

 north side of the house for October bloom. 

 The flowers will even recover from a 

 November freeze if shaded so that they 

 can thaw out very gradually. The plant 

 is reasonably hardy, but sometimes does 

 better north of Boston than in Phila- 

 delphia, because it likes a steady winter 

 better than a variable one. Mr. Whyte 

 lost his whole collection at Ottawa because 

 the ground happened to freeze that year 

 before the snow came. The old crowns 

 are sometimes killed but new crowns de- 

 velop and will give good results the second 

 year. Anemones will die if planted in 

 ground where water stands in winter. The 

 old red variety is said to have the weakest 

 constitution. Whirlwind is so hardy as 

 to require no winter protection, though 

 Utter is advisable for nearly all perennials 

 in a variable climate. If you wish to work 

 up a good stock, do not divide the roots 

 every spring; it is better to prepare the 

 ground deeply, give rich soil, and top 

 dress annually. Then the plants will 

 increase rapidly enough. 



"Why in the world are you going to 

 collect Japanese anemones?" I once asked 

 Mr. Whyte. "I didn't know there were 

 varieties enough to collect." 



"Oh, yes," he replied. "There are 

 over thirty varieties and I have scoured 

 Holland, Germany, France and England 

 for them, because they vary in season, 

 color, size, doubleness, height of plant, 

 etc." 



I can understand that passion. It is 

 the point of view of the lover of "florist's 

 flowers," e. g. gladioli, dahlias, pansies, 

 tulips, any group in which there are dozens 

 of varieties. The collector loves to revel 

 in the differences of form and color that 



never get into books. It needs years of 

 study and the patience of a man like 

 H. C. Irish, of the Missouri Botanical 

 Garden, to distinguish all the varieties of 

 such a group, make a key, etc. I shall 

 attempt only a rough sketch of the evo- 

 lution of the Japanese anemones, a quick 

 notion of which may be gotten from a 

 picture on the previous page. 



The original Anemone Japonica is of a 

 rather disagreeable rosy purple and has 

 about five petals in a single row. The 

 plants sold under this name are somewhat 

 more developed, since they generally have 

 a double row of petals. There is no other 

 autumn-blooming species in the genus, 

 but there is a Himalayan variety, vitifolia, 

 which has grape-like foliage. The leaves 

 of the old Japonica are ternate, whereas 

 those of vitifolia are S-to-7 parted and 

 heart-shaped. This Himalayan •. plant is 

 of doubtful hardiness here and its only 

 interest is that it seems to have played 

 some part in the breeding of anemones, for 

 the varieties rosea and elegans which date 

 back to 1848 are supposed to be hybrids 



of the Himalayan and the Japanese. Both 

 these varieties are sometimes included 

 under the name of hybrida and, after the 

 easy-going fashion of nurserymen, all 

 three names are still alive, although these 

 varieties have been far surpassed in 

 beauty. 



The "improvers" of Japanese anemones 

 want a big, double flower, with broad, 

 overlapping petals. (See Prince Henry.) 

 They have increased the size from two to 

 three inches, and Geant Blanche some- 

 times has flowers three and a half inches 

 across. These, however, are single, and 

 the breeders are straining after a perfectly 

 double flower. I see no special harm in this 

 ideal, for the buttercup or open-faced type 

 of flower is so common in nature that there 

 is no unique form to be lost, as there is 

 with columbines and larkspurs. So far the 

 breeders have gotten only four rows of 

 petals, and the innermost is composed of 

 smaller and narrow petals which are more 

 or less twisted. These semi-double flowers 

 lose in grace what they gain in massiveness 

 and longevity. Prince Henry is perhaps 



Undisturbed for ten years: At Hartford. Henry Huss. gardener. Queen Charlotte, pink, and alba 



