Anemone narcissiflora

NARCISSIS ANEMONE

Anemone narcissiflora
NARCISSIS ANEMONE

Anemone narcissiflora is a little darling, and utterly gorgeous!

Gorgeous blooms like miniature daffodils

As is obvious from the botanical name – it flaunts bunches of flowers that look all the world like bouquets of miniature poet’s daffodils.
Each bloom has a circle of white pointed petals (strictly speaking sepals) around a centre of gold stamens.
With sometimes a chalky blue back to the petals too.
Anemone narcissiflora is little known in Australia, but it is such a treasure, we all deserves to have one.

Generous clusters of blooms

With blooms in generous clusters, sitting jauntily high above the foliage, and looking right up at you with those golden eyes.
Anemone narcissiflora is a bewitching feature in bloom during late spring and early summer.
So it blooms after all the proper Daffodils have finished, and extends the charming, fresh look of spring

Pretty ferny foliage

While the foliage provides a delightfully pretty ferny foliage mound for months.

Treasure for shade

Plant Anemone narcissiflora in Dappled Shade, Deciduous Shade, Full Shade or Morning Sun positions.
Easy to grow in such positions, it forms a low maintenance perennial clump.
It is certainly extremely frost hardy, and is also reported to particularly enjoy coastal conditions.
Plus it can happily tolerate clay soil, particularly if it has been opened up with organic matter such as old manure, leaf mold, compost or mulch.
And particularly fond of gritty, sandy soils as long as they have been enriched with lots of compost, leaf mold and mulch.

Low maintenance

There is little to no work to do with this little gem.
And with luck it will self-sow more little miniature daffodil anemones for you.
Anemone narcissiflora does enjoy mulch over the warm months, and perhaps a tonic occasionally with some seaweed or fish product.
A feed in spring will plump it up for bumper flowering.
But otherwise it is happy to just get on with the job – and if the summer gets too hot it will just go underground and return with the autumn rains.

Rabbit & deer resistant but nurture for bees

Anemone narcissiflora contains a chemical that deer and rabbits cant abide.
The plant almost became extinct in many parts because it was so much harvested for folk medicine. However modern science tells us it should not be ingested raw (though probably OK if cooked), and somehow the rabbits and deer have “heard” about this.
However the flowers are exceptionally rich in nectar and pollen – so bees and other beneficial pollinators go demented for them.

Perennial clump 30cm H x 30cm W

SEED SOWING ADVICE:

Sow any time indoors in punnets, or scatter directly in garden in autumn and winter.

INDOORS: Sow seeds in a punnet on the surface of good quality seed raising mix.
Then gently pat the seeds to the surface of the mix, to ensure good contact.
And barely cover the seeds with sieved mix.

Thoroughly moisten the mix by standing the punnet in a shallow water bath.
And allowing the moisture to percolate up to the surface of the mix from below.

Now cover the punnet with a light proof lid, as these seeds need dark to germinate.

Place the moist, sown punnet in a cool place (right away from direct sunlight).

Give it the cold treatment

Cooler temperatures of no more than 18C. are best for rapid and optimum germination.
And Anemone narcissiflora seed really does respond well to cold treatment.
So some people prefer to sow it in the autumn, cover the punnet with wire to prevent critters disturbing, and park it in a cool, shady place outdoors to let the cold of winter and nature’s good time do the job.

Seedlings emerge in approx. 28-35 days.

However if the seeds are shy to germinate within 35 days – it means the seeds are dormant and definitely need a period of chilling (a pretend winter) to break their sleep.
This is common for Anemone narcissiflora.

So wrap the moist, sown punnet in cling-wrap or a plastic bag, and keep in fridge (not freezer) for 4-6 weeks.
Then remove from fridge, unwrap and return to a cool place with temperatures not above 18C.
Continue to keep the punnet dark with a cover, and continue to keep moist as needed.

Seedlings emerge in approx. 28-35 days.

SEED COUNT: 8 seeds per pack of this rare and highly desirable plant.
(We always aim to exceed the stated seed count and give a generous serve).

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