Wednesday 1 October 2008

Anemone japonica

In my head
my garden has drifts of Japanese Anemones.
They catch the autumn sunshine
and glow against the brickwork.

In reality they don't exist.
Every time I plant them
they shrivel and die.
It seems so unfair when I see other gardens
where they are practically a weed.

I want to have my own
'Honorine Joubert'
I really, really want some.
Life can be so cruel.

Perhaps I will plant some more this year.
Hope never dies.

15 comments:

Jackie said...

I feel exactly the same about sweet peas......and delphiniums,and sweet william, and scabious and...well...flowers in general. (I do however have a glorious show ..well..2..of Anemone Japonica)

trash said...

I'm with Jackie. I can grow them but not much else.

blackbird said...

I'm sure you know (as I have posted on it) that K and I plant things with great hope in our hearts only to have them wither and die. We are terrible gardeners and never look at zone charts.

Lynn said...

Yes, what Jackie said about sweet peas! They don't stand a chance in this inferno. Oh, well. I'll beam anemone-growing vibes in your direction. You know I do have the Qigong Power, after all.

A time to dance said...

I have exactly the same problem, my mum plants then in my garden (she has the greenest of fingers) and they die- yet they grow like weeds in her garden to the point that she pulls them out every year!
I have no idea why but I know how frustrating!!!

Ali said...

I'd recommend buying them on impulde at a village plant fair, then leaving them unplanted in ridiculously small pots for a year. Only occasionally remembering to slosh a bit of water over them.

Then guiltily plant them in the nastiest corner of the garden by the compost heap.

Because I've never had them befire either, but they are there this year. Perhaps they are just the sort that have to grow un-noticed to thrive.

Unknown said...

Maybe you're trying to plant them in the wrong spot in your garden - is there any other spot they might have a better chance. I do love them when I see them flowering at this time of year - I keep saying I'll plant some and then forget again

dragonfly said...

I have had 2 plants in my garden for the last 5 years and they've done NOTHING!

I love the middle of them...I should know what its called...but my brain is overloaded...

Anonymous said...

They are definetly weeds in my garden!
Just try planting them in different places, once you find somewhere they are happy they will just take off and take over if you are not careful.

Mary said...

They seem to grow well in this part of the world.

Not in my garden mind. For someone who photographs gardens obsessively my garden is a wilderness!

Anonymous said...

I don't think I have seen those before! The petals almost look a bit like dogwood.

JuliaB said...

I have just planted some of these... they look like they have died .. :(

Ali Honey said...

If we lived in the same country ( hemisphere even ) I would give you plants for free. I have those 2 and a third pale pink. The white is by far the most beautiful ( virginal )and most well behaved.

The dark pink comes up in cobblestone cracks, in the lawn and anywhere it darn well likes. It's even growing out in the paddock under the avocado trees where my gaden rubbish gets used as mulch.

Anonymous said...

Odd, I can't grow delphiniums, either. But my japanese anenome? it grows at the very edge of the dirt, right by the sidewalk. Why? And it rarely flowers. Maddening.

Ginnie said...

Hi, Alice,

I've been away from reading for awhile and find you are back here! Good thing I never deleted you from my bookmarks - you're still at the top of the list.

And I love this flower, too, and happily have no trouble growing this (but don't ask me about heuchera and astilbe and...). This year they were the most beautiful they've ever been, and the blooms, which started before the end of August, just finished last week.

xxoo