Planting anemones

Leaves of anemone coronaria (florist's anemone) are beginning to emerge in the garden reminding me that I should have planted this year's corms by now. The plants originate in the eastern mediterranean and thrive in well drained soil in sunshine - they don't particularly like the damp Scottish soil and should probably have been planted a few weeks ago so that they could begin to grow before the corms get a chance to rot.
A tip, if you have left planting this late is to soak the corms overnight before you plant them- this lets them take in water and means that they are ready to split open their skin and get on with growing as soon as they are in the soil. It is also worthwhile planting the corms on their side to minimise the chance of rotting - the shoots and roots will find their own way. I find that this is better than waiting and planting in the Spring.
This year I am going to mulch under the plants in the spring to stop the flowers being splattered with mud during rainstorms. I am also going to experiment with shading to encourage longer stems - in the sunshine most of the stems only reach a decent length when the flowers are fully open which is not much use for selling.
If, like me you have a lot of weeding to do in the spring - remember that creeping buttercup and anemones have similar leaves - the first year I grew anemones I weeded at least half of them out.
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