Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'

While I was in Washington and Oregon last month, one of the bouncing flowers in most of the gardens was the large white Japanese windflower, ‘Honorine Jobert’ (Anemone x hybrida ‘Honorine Jobert’)

She holds her large, flat white blossoms with bright yellow centers at the ends of springy stems that jump about in the slightest breeze, adding motion as well as cool color to the shady border. Give her some room, plenty of moisture, and a shady spot and she will build a whole colony. USDA Zones 5-8

Bugbane

Light colors need something dark to play off so use this dark plant as a backdrop for your ‘Honorine Jobert’. The bonus will be drifts of fragrance floating in the shady air. USDA Zones 4-8.

Forget-me-nots are not just for spring blue flowers anymore. Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ (Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' PP#13,859) is known for his silver leaves traced with green veining. It will show off a foot or taller and a little wider in front of the white anemone.

Now a variegated 'Jack Frost' has come along called ‘King’s Ransom’. Its frosty leaves start out with a yellow edge, giving it a variegated look. By fall, this edging has changed to cream.

Plant either of these Brunneras a foot and a half to two feet apart. They will make silver mounds of foliage, distinctive when separated by some shady soil. USDA Zones 3-7.

To intensify the feeling of cool shade, throw in some little ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ (the Hosta, not the little rodent) for a seldom seen bluish understatement at the front of your collection. Mouse Ears keeps its blue green leaf color through summer heat. Its tiny bundle of leaves is just 2 inches wide and not much longer, making it a first-class mounding ground cover. USDA Zones 3-8.

Color comes not just from flowers, but also from the foliage. The heavily cut dark leaves of the Bugbane highlight and help to blend the whites, silvers, and blues into a shady watercolor-like picture. Plan now for your next fall.

---Posted by Coach Anne, October 8, 2008---