‘The Admiral’ windflower (Anemone coronaria), with sweet lavender-pink double flowers, is a tender rhizome that you can plant and forget — until its petal-packed blooms open in mid- to late spring.
Growing 6 to 12 inches tall, its diminutive height makes it a good skirt for taller late-spring-blooming bulbs or a colorful edging.
Where it’s cold-hardy (USDA zone 7 and warmer), plant ‘The Admiral’ in the ground in fall. Where it isn’t hardy, treat windflower as an annual that you plant in early spring then pull and replace after the blooms are done. But even where windflower can be left in the soil through winter, it's short-lived. To keep these bright, texture-rich blooms coming back, put in more every few years and enjoy!
Type Tender rhizome Blooms Lavender-pink double flowers from mid- to late spring Light Full sun to part shade Soil Sandy, well-drained Pests None serious Size 6 to 12 in. tall, 9 to 12 in. wide Cold-hardy USDA zones 7 to 10 Heat-tolerant AHS zones 10 to 1 Source Brent and Becky’s