Anemone blanda

T. H. Everett calls Anemone blanda “choice,” in the encyclopedia, The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture, 1981. Blooming in temperate climates in mid spring, with a daisy flower, it’s possible he liked these features. His word of “choice” might also even allude to the fact that these plants can be choosy.

Anemone blanda are more likely to succeed in the ground, versus in raised beds. In God’s palette of plants, we are lucky to be able to take so many different varieties of plants and elevate them to be viewed in a raised bed. Raised beds can be less arduous to weed, and can establish a stronger focal point perhaps of showing deliberation in gardening. It may be rare for a plant to not be able to thrive in a raised bed, but Anemone blanda is known to prefer being in the ground.

If God makes metaphors in nature for us to see as a mirror into our own lives, or a window to view the broader scope of the world, it is perhaps fascinating that a plant would be choosy about its home, beyond environmental factors such as light, water, and soil conditions. We are indeed so lucky to take plants from nature and display them in a little piece of ground raised up artificially, but it is perhaps humbling to remember that while you can make A. blanda bloom in a new place, it might want to feel as though it is still in nature. A. blanda is also choosy about opening its flower, opening only when the sun is shining, and when cut and put in water.

Sources:
The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture, 1981