Not to stray even farther, but I think plants keep us humble. Our County Ag Agent isn't ashamed to tell how he finally purchased some daphne, planting some in his own garden and giving the rest to his brother-in-law. Now, our CAA, coming from a family that owned a nursery in addition to his formal training, was well aware not only of the finicky nature of daphne, but also how to meet those needs, and he made sure he did all the right things at the right times. His daphne were fine ... and then, one day, they just inexplicably, without warning, up and died. His BIL, being a somewhat casual gardener, treated the daphne with something just a tad better than benign neglect ... and they are still alive and thriving! Go figure. I've given up on delphinium. Love 'em, tried 'em, lost 'em. I finally found out they just don't like our humid weather. 'Windswept' buds are swelling and should be open soon.

My 'Honorine Jobert' are now entering their 8th week of full bloom and still have a lot of buds forming! I am so impressed with these this year, but we have had a much cooler than normal fall, so I wonder if that has contributed to the extended bloom season. Just a couple of thoughts, some of my plants were purchased from a local garden center. They were overflowing in 1 gallon pots with multiple crowns (at least 10 in each clump). These plants seemed to establish quicker and are doing much better than others planted at exactly the same time in the same location obtained through mail order which were much smaller (1-2 crowns growing in quart-sized pots). I wonder if anemones are one of those plants which struggle if the divisions are too small? If any of you have the option, try to go for the absolutely largest plants you can find!

I have seen these types of flowers in the neighborhood but I never knew what they were. These are not the kind of anemones that I am familiar with (anemone coronaria) Can I ask a silly question? What are these types of anemones called so I know what to look for in the garden center? Do you by them as tubers or plants?

I can pretty much guarantee it is not that keen on my conditions, Floral (shelly, sandy, rooty)...but what I do often see is slow, slow initial growth -twice as slow as I would expect at the allotment. I have had them for two whole summers (planted it in autumn, 2015) so maybe next spring is the charm. I have rivularis seeds on order (those blue stamens) and also, an unknown species to me, a.trullifolia (from Plantworld). It is so touch and go though as the seeds have such a short viability. If no germination occurs, I would bite the bullet and buy a stock plant for saving fresh seeds. Actually, I don't have robustissima (I really should go and see if I can scavenge seeds from the local botanics as they have a massive stand of it).