Other Names:  Japanese Anemone, Windflower

Group/Class:  Fantasy Series

Description:

A lovely, compact selection for the summer garden; branching stems covered with bright, scarlet red to pink blooms that are great for cutting; good for partial shade areas; mulch in colder winter areas; prefers afternoon shade in hot dry areas

Ornamental Features

Fantasy™ Red Riding Hood Anemone has masses of beautiful lightly-scented scarlet buttercup flowers with pink overtones and gold eyes at the ends of the stems from early to late summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its serrated lobed leaves remain bluish-green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes

Fantasy™ Red Riding Hood Anemone is a dense herbaceous perennial with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration;

• Insects
• Disease

Fantasy™ Red Riding Hood Anemone is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Fantasy™ Red Riding Hood Anemone will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity extending to 18 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 24 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. The flower stalks can be weak and so it may require staking in exposed sites or excessively rich soils. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen! As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Fantasy™ Red Riding Hood Anemone is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the larger thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.