Windflower (Anemone blanda 'Blue Star')
Anemone blanda 'Blue Star' (Windflower) delivers showy, intense blue spring blooms. Low maintenance perennial bulb ideal for naturalizing.
Scroll down to discover growing tips, care requirements, companion plants, and more
Complete Plant Information
Overview
Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’, commonly known as Windflower, is a treasured early spring ephemeral, offering a stunning carpet of intense blue color before many other perennials awake. This spreading, tuberous-rooted perennial provides significant visual impact with its daisy-like flowers, featuring 9-14 vibrant, petal-like sepals. Gardeners value the Windflower for its low maintenance requirements and its delightful habit of naturalizing readily by both rhizomes and self-seeding.
These charming plants typically reach only 4 to 8 inches tall, making them perfect for the front of borders or woodland settings. While they are appropriately nicknamed windflowers, gardeners should select a spot that offers some shelter from harsh winds to best display the delicate blooms of Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’. Their fern-like foliage is attractive until they go dormant later in the season.
The striking deep blue hue of Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ ensures an excellent early showing, providing essential color in the landscape from April onwards. Prepare to enjoy large drifts of this reliable bulb that spreads gently over time, creating an increasingly beautiful display year after year.
Fast Facts
- Plant Family: Ranunculaceae
- Plant Type: Bulb
- Hardiness Zones: USDA Zones 5-8
- Size at Maturity:
- Height: 0.5-0.75 ft
- Spread: 0.25-0.5 ft
- Bloom Time: April
- Bloom Description: Blue
- Sun Exposure: Full sun to part shade
- Water Needs: Medium
- Maintenance Level: Low
How to Grow
Planting Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ is best done in the fall. Ensure the soil is organically rich, medium in moisture, and well-drained to prevent rhizome issues. Before planting, soak the knobby tubers overnight in water. Set the tubers 2 to 3 inches deep and space them 3 to 5 inches apart; plant them closer together if you desire a quicker ground cover effect.
Ongoing care requires keeping the soils consistently moist throughout the growing season, especially while the plants are actively growing and flowering. Although Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ thrives in full sun in cooler northern areas, providing some afternoon shade will benefit the plants in hotter summer climates. These low-maintenance Windflowers require minimal intervention once established.
After flowering concludes, the foliage will yellow, signaling the plants are entering dormancy. You can cut the foliage back once it fully yellows. As a perennial that naturalizes well, the ‘Blue Star’ Windflower may be grown in containers temporarily, but its tubers should be moved to a permanent garden spot in the fall for better long-term survival.
Landscape Uses
The naturalizing tendency of Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ makes it a superb choice for creating a spring mat of color across large areas. Mix and mass these bulbs for an excellent early-blooming effect in rock gardens, perennial borders, or naturalized open woodland areas. They look particularly stunning when planted in large drifts beneath deciduous spring-flowering trees, where they receive early sun before the canopy leafs out.
This versatile Windflower also performs admirably in containers, offering instant spring color that can be incorporated into mixed arrangements. For a truly enchanting display, allow Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ to spread naturally under shrubs or along pathways where their charming deep blue flowers can form a low, dense carpet.
Standout Features
Flower Qualities
- Showy
- Good Cut
Noteworthy Characteristics
Anemone blanda, commonly called Grecian windflower, is a spreading, tuberous-rooted perennial native to southeastern Europe through Turkey. It features attractive daisy-like, dark blue flowers, each measuring about 2.5 inches across and composed of 9-14 showy, petal-like sepals (apetalous). The species spreads to form a beautiful carpet of flowers in spring, and the specific cultivar ‘Blue Star’ offers intense blue sepals.
Tolerances
- Deer
- Black Walnut
Potential Problems
Leaf spot and rhizome rot are infrequently reported problems for this hardy bulb. Preventative care focuses heavily on environment; ensuring excellent drainage is crucial to avoid rhizome rot, especially during wet spring periods. Good air circulation and avoiding overly dense plantings can help mitigate fungal issues like leaf spot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hardiness zones is Windflower suitable for?
Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ is reliably hardy in USDA Zones 5 through 8.
How large does Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ grow?
This plant achieves a short stature, typically reaching a height between 0.5 and 0.75 feet, with a modest spread of 0.25 to 0.5 feet when mature.
When does Windflower bloom?
The blooming time for Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ is generally in April, producing characteristic bright blue flowers early in the season.
What sun exposure does Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ need?
This Windflower performs best in locations receiving full sun to partial shade, adapting well to morning sun and afternoon dappled light.
Conclusion
The low-maintenance nature and spectacular early bloom make Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ an indispensable component of the spring garden. Its ability to naturalize ensures that your investment yields greater visual returns season after season, carpeting the ground in vibrant blue. Before the last frost, plan your autumn planting schedule to incorporate these wonderful Windflowers into your landscape design.
Companion Planting
When selecting companions for Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’, focus on other spring ephemerals or plants that thrive in similar light and moisture conditions before summer heat sets in. Good partners include early Daffodils (Narcissus), Snowdrops (Galanthus), or species Crocus, which help extend the period of spring interest. Once the Windflower foliage dies back, taller perennials like Hostas or woodland Phlox can take over the space, ensuring continuous ground cover without competing during the Windflower’s active phase.
Seasonal Care Calendar
For successful Anemone blanda ‘Blue Star’ management, focus your efforts seasonally. In the fall, plant the soaked tubers and apply a light mulch if winter protection is needed in the colder end of its range (Zone 5). During the spring growing season, maintain medium soil moisture consistently, avoiding drought, but ensuring drainage remains excellent. Once the blue flowers fade and the foliage begins to yellow approaching summer, cease heavy watering and allow the plant to naturally go dormant, cutting back the foliage only after it has completely died down.
