Species Native to Missouri
Common Name: windflower
Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Ranunculaceae
Native Range: North America
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 2.00 to 2.50 feet
Bloom Time: April to June
Bloom Description: White
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium to wet
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy, Good Cut
Tolerate: Deer, Clay Soil
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium to wet, well-drained soils in full sun to part shade. Prefers moist, humusy soils in part shade, but tolerates full sun in cool summer climates. Flowering stems tend to flop in too much shade. Rhizomatous plant that can spread aggressively in the landscape. Propagate by division from May to September.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Anemone canadensis, commonly known as Canada anemone, meadow anemone or roundleaf anemone, is an herbaceous perennial of the buttercup family that produces an often spectacular bloom of apetalous, upward-facing, white flowers (to 2” diameter) which bloom in spring (April-June) atop erect hairy flowering stems (to 2’ tall) clad with broad, stalkless, deeply cut and sharply-toothed orbiculate leaves. Each flower features five showy petal-like white sepals and numerous contrasting yellow center stamens. Flower stems rise from a basal clump of deeply-dissected, long-stalked, 3-5 lobed basal leaves.
Canada anemone is native to river margins, river flood plains, low moist meadows, ditches and moist thickets throughout southern Canada from Newfoundland to British Columbia and in the U.S from Maine to Montana south to West Virginia, Missouri, Kansas and scattered through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. It naturalizes easily (somewhat invasively in optimum growing conditions), and is often found growing in large colonies. In Missouri, concentrations are primarily found along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries.
Genus name is often said to be derived from the Greek word anemos meaning wind.
Specific epithet is in obvious reference to the plant in part being native to Canada.
Windflower is an often used common name for plants in the genus Anemone because the upright flower stems of most genus plants typically sway in the breeze. However, Canada anemone is a species that actually prefers a site protected from wind since strong winds can bend or break the thin flowerstalks.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Taller plants may need some support. Foliar nematodes may feed within the leaves. Leaf spot, downy mildew, powdery mildew and rust may appear. Watch for caterpillars, flea beetles, and slugs.
Uses
A showy, spring wildflower for naturalizing in moist areas of a wildflower or native plant garden. Also may be grown near streams, ponds or water gardens.