Anemones are one of the most beloved spring flowers among floral designers and brides, as well as garden enthusiasts. Following the right steps and a few helpful hints, they are actually quite easy to grow. Blooms will begin arriving only three months after planting. With each plant producing up to 20 flowers each, they are a productive garden gem!

When to Plant

Anemones can be planted in the fall or spring, depending on where you live and what your gardening setup. In zones with mild winters (6 and above), anemones can be fall planted. In zones with harsher winters, anemones should pre-sprouted indoors and planted out in early spring or grown in cover in a hoop house or low tunnel.

Pre-Sprouting Anemones

Anemone corms look like shriveled acorns, appearing to have no life to give. But don’t worry, they are capable of producing numerous beautiful blooms each within just a matter of months. They just need a little coaxing to get going! We do this with a process called pre-sprouting, which hydrates the corm and begins the rooting process. Pre-sprouting is typically done for both anemone and ranunculus corms.

Sort and Soak - The pre-sprouting process begins with soaking the corms in water for 8 hours. We’ve found that anemones require a little longer soaking time than ranunculus, which we soak for 4 hours. However, don’t soak longer than 8 hours for risk of future rotting. While the anemone corms are soaking, it is important to oxygenate the water the entire time. We use an inexpensive aquarium air pump with multiple bubbler stones. We often soak multiple varieties together, keeping them separated in labeled mesh bags.
Dip and Dry- As soon as we remove the anemone bags from soaking, we dip them in a santizing solution, such as Oxidate, to kill any bacteria or mildew. They then get laid out in individual trays to dry slightly for a couple hours. Be careful not to let them completely dry out.
Sprout and Store - After soaking, anemone corms can be planted out directly but allowing them to pre-sprout in a relatively controlled environment gives the plants a jump-start and will bring you blooms 3-4 weeks earlier. Another benefit of pre-sprouting is the ability to weed out any duds or unhealthy corms (sorry, but there are always a couple) prior to taking up valuable greenhouse or garden space.
We pre-sprout in 72-count trays in order to keep the corms separated from one another to avoid the spread of any rot or disease from one corm to another. The 72-count trays get a small layer of sterile potting material (we prefer ProMix or sometimes use a 50/50 combination of peat moss and perlite). The potting material should be damp enough to wring out a few drops when squeezed but not overly wet.
Place the corms pointy-side down, one per cell. The top should have a rough ring on the surface. Once full, loosely cover with planting material just so that the corms are fully covered (not deep). Leave the trays in a cool place (40-50°F) where there is not a risk of rodents for 10-14 days. Check on the trays regularly to make sure the soil is moist but not soggy.

Ready to Plant

At the end of the pre-sprouting period, the corms should have doubled in size and grown roots 1/8” - 1/2” long. Carefully remove several from the trays to check. If planting in beds, the sprouted corms should be planted 2-3” deep and 6” apart. The corm should be completely submerged in soil with any plant growth above the soil line. We use 6” agriculture netting to perfectly space our anemones with one going in the center of each 6” square. Prior to planting, be sure to prepare the growing beds with 2-3” of compost and fertilizer.

We grow half of our anemones in crates (18 per crate), due to limitations on our bed space and in order to better control their timing and environment.