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Anemone de Caen

roxy2roxy2 Posts: 23

Hi - can anyone help please with the soil type for these bulbs. I plan to soak them for 24 hours before planting but into what? Should it be gritty, JI no 3, leaf mould or just ordinary compost? I am moving and just bought some half price bulbs and want to put them in pots awaiting final transplanting later in the year. Should I add some bonemeal? I haven't had much luck with them in the past so this is my final shot! Many thanks

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  • Gold1locksGold1locks Posts: 498

    I have only ever grown them in open ground, which is the norm. but in a pot you should use ordinary compost mixed with horticultural grit as they like good drainage. If you can't get that then use sharp sand (not builders sand ) from your local builders merchant. I would mix 3:1 by volume compost to grit / sand.

    You could add bonemeal, though that is for term development of the corm and not for this year's flowers. They are not very hardy (zones 7 - 10), and will be more vulnerable to frost in pots rather than in the ground unless you shelter the pot.  I might lift them in autumn, dry and store them, and replant in spring. If you intend leaving them in a pot over winter maybe you should go for John Innes no 3, as ordinary MP compost will be nothing but peat and sand by autumn, 

  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    Goldilocks has covered most things, but you don't need to soak them for more than 12 hours. I find that they are hardy in the ground, and reasonably so in large planters, although I did lose some in 2010. Mind you, we did have a solid week of -10C and below.

  • The wonderful local radio gardening expert Brian Kidd always says that the trick with these is to plant them in a wide bulb dish, placing one at each point of the clock-face and one in the middle.  When they start to sprout and you see where the gaps are, gently dig out those tubers and turn them over - they will have been planted upside down!  Apparently they have a right way up, but it's sometimes difficult to tell.

    Once they have germinated, it's then easy to transplant the pot of anemones into the garden.

  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    And I would point out that I did lose anemones in pots in a cold winter, just as Goldilocks suggested. Yes, it was an unusually cold winter, but I still lost them.

  • Gold1locksGold1locks Posts: 498

    Roxy, 

    I found this on a gardening website. It explains why I was cautious about keeping anemone de Caen in pots over winter. Of course it may be that this advice does not apply to anemones, but I could find nothing about growing them in pots.

    Knowing your plant hardiness zone is particularly important if you are growing perennials, trees or shrubs in your garden pots. If you live in a cold zone, you'll want to make sure your plants are rated for two zones colder than your area, because the roots of container plants get colder in pots than if they were in the ground.

  • JengilJengil Posts: 35

    I have loads of these at the front of the house and they do really well. We have sandy soil which is perfect. I didn't soak them before planting.

  • kate1123kate1123 Posts: 2,815

    I have had a lot of trouble getting my Anemones to come back, I find all suggestions made are helpful, particulary if the poster is happy to answer further questions. I can then use what I find most appropriate to my garden conditions.

  • yarrow2yarrow2 Posts: 782

    roxy2 hi!  I bought a cheap box of Anemone de Caen from a supermarket and sowed some indoors and outdoors in February and March.   I'm central Scotland, beginner gardener, soil 6-7pH and temperatures have ranged from -1 to 10 degrees last two months.  Know nothing about Anemone de Caen but here is photo of results in different conditions.  Compost in pots was just multi-p.    Friend who had previous year's ones in pots lost some but said was due to continual heavy rain and pots were  soaked.  She also puts pots in sheltered place in very low temps.  I won't know what happens with my outdoors ones until next year.  Also as beginner, have no idea if my seedlings ought to be as floppy as they seem to be or if they ought to be standing upright better.  Not sure if this helps with anything.

    http://image1.gardenersworld.com/7175.jpg?tag=a5a93a0b-bcf6-40c2-8e5a-ebf98fe1bae0

  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    Anemones don't always grow bolt upright, but your bottom left picture shows quite thin stems, so they may have been small corms.

    It doesn't matter, though - they should cheer up with a bit of sunshine, which they do enjoy.

  • I bought Anemone de Caen corms yesterday and presumed I should plant them at this time of year. Although I have gardened for many years, I have never tried these in my garden as I am on clay soil. As I have no experience of them I thought I'd check out the internet info. I think I will leave planting the corms until the spring as my garden is north facing and cold and when I plant will incorporate organic matter and grit for drainage. Thank you all for your help. Now I just have to remember where I've stored them.

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