Japanese anemone ‘Praecox’

Anemone hupehensis ‘Praecox’ is a dark pink, single-flowered perennial that spreads by suckering. Anemone means “daughter of wind’ in ancient Greek which is why it is also called windflower.

This cultivar is one of the earlier fall-blooming anemones. By late summer its 30” flowering stems reach above the leaves to display creamy pink-petaled flowers with green-yellow centers. Originally native to forest edges and clearings in China, this species has been naturalized in Japan for hundreds of years. It is a clump forming perennial, growing its compound foliage to about a foot tall. It continues to flower until it is knocked down by frost in the fall. The flowers give way to fluffy seed heads resembling balls of cotton floating through the garden.