Japanese Anemone 'Bressingham Glow'

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And glow they do when caught with the evening sun shimmering through their petals.

This fall-flowering, double pink is a favorite of mine. It makes the largest seed heads that can last through the winter and offer a soft lining for hummingbird nests in the spring.

Click here for a nice primer on these plants and others in the family.

© Copyright 2006-2016, Raven Ridge Gardens. All rights reserved.

White Japanese Anemone

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After nearly wiping out my white Japanese anemones with some rather heavy-handed weeding a few years back, I am happy to say that they are now growing well and multiplying in one section of my garden.

I love their white purity.

© Copyright 2006-2012, Raven Ridge Gardens. All rights reserved.

Double Japanese Anemone and the Waning of Summer

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Double Japanese anemone

When the Japanese anemones open I know that our foggy summer is more than halfway over; that the sunny skies of autumn will be here soon.

This is the season I look forward to the most:  The colors, the flavors, the woodsy-composty-smokey outdoor scents, the red-gold sun with its long shadows, the just perceptible nip to the evening air, the rise of winged ants, the frantic feeding of swallows as they prepare for their long flight to a warmer winter, the promise of holidays with family and a new grand-baby.

We tuck in.  Summer is way too short here; our winters way too long.

I still love it.

© Copyright 2006-2012, Raven Ridge Gardens. All rights reserved.

Material for a Hummer's Nest

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I used to mow down the Japanese anemone seed heads before they reached this stage until one early spring day when I saw a hummingbird plucking the soft white froth in its beak and zooming off to parts unknown.  I watched while the hummer came back again and again, finally putting it together: what a perfect lining for a nest.

This time of year it looks like there's cotton growing in my garden beds. I no longer make excuses.

January:  Garlic and onions are coming up; some potatoes dug, others in the ground; last summer's chard given to the chickens; more garlic to plant; beds to amend.
Weather:  very dry winter so far; sunny days with highs in the 60s; waiting for much-needed rain (secretly loving the sunshine).

© Copyright 2006-2012, Raven Ridge Gardens. All rights reserved.