Great Companion Plants for your Japanese Anemones

Late summer and early fall often represent a challenge to gardeners as summer-blooming plants begin to fade while fall bloomers have not quite reached their apex. Fall-blooming anemones, commonly called Japanese Anemones or Windflowers, are fabulous perennials, helping with this transition from one season to the next.

With one of the longest-blooming seasons, up to 6-8 weeks, Japanese Anemones add brilliant color in the landscape from mid or late summer through fall. Well suited for borders, cottage gardens, coastal gardens, or naturalized areas such as prairies or meadows, Japanese Anemones put on a spectacular show in the late summer garden and persist to contribute to the crescendo of fall.

Rather than let these charming beauties bloom lonesomely in a bare patch, give them companion plants and layer your plantings for maximum drama. Japanese Anemones make perfect partners with other plants and help create strikingly beautiful combinations in the garden.

Extend the season of interest of your mixed border

Surrounding your Japanese Anemones with a succession of flowers and foliage plants will reinforce the beauty of their blooms and extend the season of interest of your mixed border.

• Since the leaves of Japanese Anemones emerge late in spring, they are great partners for flowering bulbs or perennials which bloom earlier in the season, such as Tulips, Narcissi (Daffodil), Convallaria majalis (Lily of the Valley) or charming Dicentra with their ferny foliage (Bleeding Heart). They will provide eye-catching color to your garden at a time when your Japanese Anemones are still dormant.
• If you grow your Japanese Anemones in part shade, you may want to add foliage plants such as Ferns with their graceful fronds, Hostas with their lavish foliage of smooth leaves, and shade-loving ornamental grasses such as Hakonechloa macra (Hakone Grass) to carry the summer.
• Floating above the border with grace in mid-late summer, the graceful sprays of white, pink, rose and purple flowers of your Anemones will mix well with many vibrant fall flowers. Combine them with purple or blue Asters or Aconitum (Monkshood), pink Sedums, incredibly pretty and exotic-looking Tricyrtis (Toad Lily), colorful Echinacea (Coneflowers), statuesque Eupatorium (Joe-Pye Weeds), and Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver’s Root), bright gold Solidago (Goldenrod) and Rudbeckia fulgida (Black-Eyed Susan) to create a powerful statement.
• Plant them with long-flowering Geraniums (such as Rozanne) or cultivars of hardy Geraniums with distinctive fall-colored foliage to enjoy a rich fall display.
• The cool white Anemones look very handsome with lots of green foliage and also show off nicely against a backdrop of dark foliage, like the deep purple foliage of Actaea (Baneberry).
• Complement with the colorful fruits of Viburnum, Callicarpa (Beauty Berries), and other hollies to add light and interest to the fall and winter landscape.

Find here some examples of plant combinations with Japanese Anemones. Need more inspiration and ideas? Discover pretty garden ideas with Japanese Anemones.