Japanese anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’
I was just fizzing as I drove home from Great Dixter plant fair last weekend, and the image of all those amazing, brightly coloured, autumn flowering beauties remained with me for days. I need this end-of-season fix to take me through the rather sombre month of November.
Inevitably there were purchases that had to be made, and the planning and planting of my newfound treasures always involves a long hard look at the existing border. I write lists of gaps that need to be filled, of plants that have had their day, and of groups of plants that might need a tweak.
Then as I wandered round a few days ago I couldn’t help once again, to be impressed by our good old Japanese anemones. There they stood, upright and gleaming in the dappled afternoon sun, and looking so natural, mingling with Miscanthus sinensis‘Morning Light’ and Artemisia lactiflora ‘Elfenbein’, while at their feet, like breaking waves, a group of one of our favourite heucheras – ‘Autumn Bride’. So, no riot of colour at this end of the bed but I was reminded that it’s not always all about colour.
‘Honorine Jobert’ is one of the most widely grown of the cultivars and it’s easy to see why; it’s hardy, trouble free, and long lived. The pure white, single flowers have green centres and contrasting golden yellow stamens and they are hard to beat!
NB Louise has published a beautifully produced book of her plant profiles – A Plant for Each Week of the Year. It costs £9.99 and is for sale in our online shop here.
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