With waist height blooms twirling in the breeze, Japanese anemone caught my eye shortly after moving into Richmond House.

A good patch grew close to the house foundations, but it had to go because of the drain tile project.  Happily, Japanese anemone transplant like a dream.  Their roots run along just under the soil and don’t seem bothered about being split up a bit.

Initially, the deer seemed to leave the Japanese anemone alone, so I’ve transplanted it into several locations around the property. Deer grazed each plant to 8 inches along their regular routes, so it rarely bloomed.

Beside the busy bus stop or along the crowded driveway, the deer leave Japanese anemone alone.  I’d say it’s a salad of opportunity.

In their favour, Japanese anemone is hyper-resilient.

•  After the deer eat it, it comes right back.
• After I shift it to a new location, it comes right back.
• A very determined specimen survived the soil removal 8 feet deep during drain tile renovations.

Considering that plant is happy so close to the foundation wall, under the eaves where there’s no rainfall nor irrigation – – I’d say it qualifies as drought tolerant as well.

It’s nice to have a plant that is happy in dry shade.  Dappled shade works well, but it struggles in deep shade.

Its lengthy blooming period is a big plus in my books.  The pink blooms decorate the garden starting in July and wrapping up in December.  That’s 6 months of colour!  After that, I still enjoy the seed head through winter.

With all of these qualities, some might consider Japanese anemone invasive.  I don’t really look at it that way.  Certainly, it is determined, but I haven’t found it popping up in areas where I haven’t put it. My advice would be to think twice before transplanting specimens or when choosing a new planting site.

I may live to regret this.  Have you?

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