I lost all my Anemone sylvestris several years ago, but it was totally my fault. Originally they were planted with an Eastern exposure with just a bit of shade from a large tree. They still received a lot of morning sun. They thrived. Then in the process of redoing that bed, I moved them to a total bright shade area. After a couple of seasons in this area they disappeared. Moral of story: Give 'em sun for at least part of the day.

This is one of those plants I never thought I would be without because they self-sowed so much. The seedling popped up everywhere in that original bed. In fact, they were a bit annoying because they liked to grow right-smack-in-the-middle of other plants. I pulled seedlings like crazy. Now I'm without.

If I remember, individual plants aren't terribly long-lived - maybe 3 seasons or so, so don't kill off all of the offspring.

Kevin

As far as packaging goes, I'm just grateful fewer and fewer mail order places are using stryo peanuts.

Oh dear - the place they are going is dappled shade. What I read about it said it was suitable for a woodland garden. I hope they don't peter out here. Do you remember if snails/slugs went for them?

I think it's always difficult discussing shade and dappled shade and part sun and all that. I tend to push the limits with sun because it generally just works better for me. Maybe it's my climate - not sure. Hopefully others will chime in with their experiences,

I really don't have any issues to speak of with slugs and we don't have snails, so I can't comment on that.

One other thing: The reason these things tend to self sow in the middle other plants is because of their seeds. They're like little puffs of cotton, so they catch on other plants when the winds blows them.

Kevin

They are part-shade plants, they'll do fine in dappled shade but don't do well in dry soil. They are quite lovely in spring, especially if they decide to bloom at the same time as the brunnera :0). My biggest complaint is the foliage can get a little weedy some years, and if it's one thing I don't like it's weedy foliage. I have them tucked into a bed where I can't see the foliage easily from my main vantage point yet I can enjoy the brilliant white swaying flowers in the spring. I think you'll be happy with them. :0)

"I really don't have any issues to speak of with slugs and we don't have snails..." Be grateful ;-)

I ordered a slew of O. grasses from Santa Rosa Gardens a couple years ago. They used these neat nifty stretchy "socks" that slip over the 4" potted plants. Since I do a lot of plant trading by mail, these socks are great & I got about 4 dozen of 'em. They just slip right over the pot, zip, yer done-- keeps the soil in the pot during shipping & cinches up the plant. After having to spend hours in the past wrapping pots + plants in damp newspaper, paper towels, saran wrap or whatever else I could lay hands on, this was a damn handy extra "gift" to get in the mail.

Thanks everyone for the info on this plant. They're planted now so fingers crossed.

I can now reply to my own question about whether slugs/snails go for Anemone sylvestris.

The answer, I'm afraid, is yes. One of my new two plants has been eaten down to the ground and if I hadn't stuck a label in would be unlocatable. The other is hanging on and has now got a protective band of slug pellets.

I have a little colony of them under a Mock Orange, such a pretty little thing, mine have just about finished blooming. Snails seem to have left them alone, they're too busy attacking my beans among other things.

Annette

Latest update - both plants entirely eaten to the soil. Despite slug pellets. Another plant I am not destined to enjoy.

What a shame because here in Baltimore they seem to be rather aggressive and almost always REbloom in the fall.

Well, they've gone for good I fear. No regrowth despite slug pellets and watering. One last straw of hope to clutch at. Can anyone tell me if the foliage normally dies down in Summer? I'm hoping against hope that the roots are still down there and they might re-emerge next year. What are the chances?

strange>>I believe you should be seeing something. but Hope springs eternal.

Hmmmm, now I'm not sure what I have they were given to me minus a name, Anemone sylvestris 'Snowdrop Anemones or Anemone nemorosa 'Wood Anemones' mine die down after blooming. Hopefully yours will come back from their roots next year.

Annette

No, A. sylvestris does not go dormant.

Oh dear, mxk3. Not what I wanted to read. I know about A nemorosa because that's our native wood anemone. But looks like I've lost my A sylvestris. Maybe I'll risk digging them up and see if there's anything under the ground.

floral,

There's an aruncus that sprouts up in the most inconvenient spot every year and my husband whacks it down to the ground after it gets to be about 3-4 feet and in full bloom, hopefully your anemone is the same way. I wished I could send you some of mine. I have been trying to control its spread for years.

Well - I dug one up. Nothing there at all. The other has a few nubs at soil level so I've left it alone. I'll just have to wait and see.

Lost to snails - ipomea, joe pye weed, various delphs, hostas (goes without say), trollius, mertensia (but I am hoping the tough root might enable reicarnation), mimulus, rhodochiton, all my phlox drummondii - a whole tray in a night, and so many seedlings I have lost count. This has been an apocalyptic mollusc molestation....the french beans were planted half a dozen times, nets, fleece, even pellets.....a nightmare - I practically had to camp out and I am still having to do torchlight inspections since I foolishly sowed a million seedlings for a big autumn planting..
The only positive is that I now have a much better list of invincible plants for woodland planting - top amongst being primulas, hardy geraniums, foxgloves, geum and (surprisingly to me), heucheras.

Especially annoying after paying good money, Flora - although you might have saved me from further painful anemone experiments (many, and all, apart from the ubiquitous Honorine Jobart, a sad fail - although I live in hope of wood anemones -I planted a heap last year).

Tell me about it Campanula - the devastation gastropods can wreak is only really comprehensible to someone who's gardened in our kind of climate, I believe. Kind suggestions about eggshells and coffee are never going to have any effect. There was a snail climbing the bathroom window yesterday (outside!) morning. 3 floors up. A bit of rain in the night and off it had set skywards. I think I've shown this pic before:

And this was the result of a few minutes picking on the allotment last summer. Equal harvest of beans and snails.

eeeeeeeewwwwwww.
Don't ducks eat snails and slugs? Maybe you could bring in a flock.... although I'm not sure how all the trampling and rooting about and pooping would fit into your garden scheme :)
ugh, even in pots things are not safe. I can't imagine.
Have you ever tried to loop a copper strip around the pot?

I do like the packaging, I've seen a couple pics from the UK of plants delivered this way.... also I love those Santa Rosa "socks". I hoard them for use in the summer to store dug up bulbs, they're just like those mesh bags usually used.... except I have no mesh bags, so socks it is! -socks, another good reason to order.... and they have a fall sale.... no. I will resist.
Unless I consider a few orders thrown out left and right to be "packaging research"? That might work!

I was working staining beams in a house and their yard had a major infestation of good sized snails. I took a bunch home for dinner and made my husband really happy. One could not walk in the yard without crunching on them. It was really creepy. They lined all the pots and the low fence. I parked on the street and scrubbed my work shoes off when I sat in my car.

As to the nifty packaging, It is good to see that some industrial arts packaging talents are being directed to these large nurseries. Annie's annuals and HCG have gotten both very different but ingeniously effective mailing systems.