Anemone ranunculoides Semi-plena’ (d)

Yellow Wood Anemone Ranunculaceae

The double-minded Yellow Wood Anemone — not quite prepared to go the whole hog with a fully double flower, but certainly unwilling to settle for the ordinary five-petalled affair. ‘Semi-Plena’ produces charming semi-double, bright buttercup-yellow flowers, with extra petal-like sepals giving them a fuller, rather pompon-like appearance while retaining the character of the species.

A compact, rhizomatous spring ephemeral, forming spreading colonies of deeply divided, dark green foliage. The flowers rise only a few centimetres above the leaves, producing a particularly good effect when allowed to naturalise through woodland or beneath deciduous shrubs. It disappears completely after flowering, leaving its rhizomes to do the important work underground. 

The form has been in horticultural circulation for some time — it was listed in British bulb catalogues by at least 2013, and appears in European horticultural literature and collections under the names ‘Semi-Plena’, ‘Pleniflora’ and ‘Flore Pleno’. Its precise original introduction does not appear to be documented, so we won’t invent one merely to make the catalogue look more exciting. 

Grow in moist, humus-rich, well-drained soil in partial or deciduous shade. It appreciates good spring light before the canopy closes and can tolerate considerably drier conditions once dormant. Given time, its slender rhizomes spread to form a handsome colony — although, being an anemone, it does have its own ideas about what constitutes an appropriate amount of garden.

H6 –15 to –20°C
Height: 10–15 cm
Spread: 30–50 cm
Flowers: March–April
Soil: Moist, humus-rich and well drained
Aspect: Partial or deciduous shade
Foliage: Dark green, deeply divided
Flowers: Bright buttercup yellow, semi-double
Habit: Rhizomatous, spreading spring ephemeral

Also encountered as: Anemone ranunculoides ‘Pleniflora’ and ‘Flore Pleno’; these names may refer to the same cultivated form.