A gardener's guide to growing Japanese anemone

Japanese anemone is beautiful and relatively care-free flower that blooms well into fall. If you want some colour from these plants just before winter, be sure to follow this advice.

• To give Japanese anemones a good start, turn the soil. Generously add aged manure or compost before setting out plants in spring.
• Water them to keep the soil slightly moist.
• These plants love organic mulch, like chopped leaves.
• Be patient. These plants often take a year or two to show vigorous growth.
• In Zones 4 and 5, add a 10-centimetre-thick (four-inch-thick) mulch of shredded leaves after the first hard freeze in late fall.

• The more sun Japanese anemones get, the faster they spread.
• Shade slows this tendency, but also diminishes flower production.
• Experiment with sun exposure in your garden to find the right balance of vigour, strong flowering and restrained spread.

• Plants might require division. If they're in a sunny spot, dividing should be done every three years. If they're in the shade, once a decade is fine.
• To separate crowded clumps or increase your plantings, dig and cut apart the growing points in early spring. Give each division healthy roots and a growing point. Replant at the same depth at which the parent plants grew.

• Few pests or diseases plague Japanese anemones, but the exceptions are formidable: deer and Japanese beetles.
• Tuck bars of deodorant soap among plants to repel deer, or apply commercial repellents per label directions.
• Japanese beetles are more attracted to plants growing in sun than shade. Site plants in shade to discourage this pest.
• You can also pick and dispose of the beetles in the morning when they're sluggish.
• Control larvae in spring by applying the biological insecticide beneficial nematodes to the soil. Be sure to follow the package directions.

• Most Japanese anemones offered for sale are Anemone × hybrida.
• Among the taller cultivars are the single-flowered 'Honorine Jobert' and semi-double 'Whirlwind.' Both have white blooms that reach 1.2 metres (four feet) tall.
• 'Königin Charlotte' is another tall type, with semi-double rose pink flowers.
• Dwarf Japanese anemones stand only 0.6 to 1 metres (two to three feet), making them suitable for the front or middle of the border.
• Dwarf species include 'September Charm,' which has silvery pink single flowers, and 'Bressingham Glow,' with vivid rose semi-double blossoms.
• The most reliable Japanese anemone for Zone 4 gardens is A. tomentosa 'Robustissima'. This is a hardy, pink-flowered cultivar that thrives in cold-winter areas.

Among the last perennials to bloom, Japanese anemones finish off the season with style. Growing them is fairly simple. Just be sure to pick the right kind for your climate and look out for pests.