Fall-blooming pinwheels are charming perennials that offer elegant flowers on long stems in shades of pink and white. They like partial shade, so they brighten up even darker corners, of which there are more and more in the garden in autumn.
Japanese pinwheels will appreciate fertilizing with compost or other organic fertilizer in the spring.
So-called Japanese pinwheels are most often grown in our country, especially Hupehen’s pinwheel (Anemone hupehensis) and its variety japonicabut also Japanese pinwheel (A. x hybrid), a felt pinwheel (A. tomentosa). Depending on the variety, they begin to bloom in late summer. New flowers tirelessly form on almost leafless and at the ends of branched stems until the end of October. But what about them then? Should the whole plant be reduced, or is it better to wait until spring?
Grateful flowers for bouquets
If we take a step back, i.e. to the period of full bloom, you may be pleased to know that pinwheels are not perennials that need regular removal of spent flowers. You will not significantly support them in the creation of others. However, what you can successfully prevent is the formation and ripening of seeds. This generally exhausts the plants, and in addition, under good growing conditions, it likes to reproduce by self-sowing. Feel free to cut the flowers into the vase as well. Cut long stems close to the ground, which will encourage new growth. Choose those on which the top flowers have already bloomed, but the side shoots are dominated by half-open buds. To keep the pinwheels fresh in the vase for a long time, after cutting, dip the ends of the stems in boiling water for a few seconds and then immediately place in the vase. Change the water in it regularly.
pinwheels
In good company
Autumn weather vanes will stand out in a bed with funkis, ferns, bruneras, alchemilkas and hydrangeas. Plant them in groups of three or five and feel free to combine them with other perennials, such as asters, rudbeckia, stonecrops or ornamental grasses.
Cut immediately after flowering or wait?
- Autumn cut after flowering is not necessary, but possible. It often happens that the stems and leaves rot rather than dry by spring and do not look quite attractive. Therefore, feel free to cut the pinwheels about 10 cm above the ground, but then cover them with briar bedding. It will be a good protection against frost in areas with cold and wet winters.
- If you wait until spring, start cutting relatively early, i.e. from the end of February or the beginning of March. At this time, you can also propagate healthy and sufficiently large mother bunches by division. This period is also ideal for planting new species or varieties of anemones – it gives them enough time to take root well, which can take up to a year or two. Yes, pinwheels take quite a while to settle into a new location, so be patient if they grow slowly or don’t flower at first. They will make it up to you after rooting.
