Anemone blanda disappearing !

Hello folks. I planted 40 in 2021 and I’m down to about 6 appearing now, nearly all in patio boxes. Those in the garden have all but disappeared. Are the squirrels particularly keen on them ? I had hoped they would increase in numbers year on year but it’s certainly not the case … any thoughts ?

 

Hello @glosmike,
I have squirrels in this garden and haven't noticed them eating anemone blanda corms so not sure what is happening to yours. They seem to spread by underground runners. Possibly underwatered during the heat waves we had last year? Hopefully other posters might know the reason.

 

Thanks lizzie. Those in the garden are on the damper side under a hedge, if the hot spells had done for any I would have expected to lose those in the patio boxes …

 

Hello @glosmike. Squirrels will not eat anemone blanda tubers as they are poisonous to them but they might dig them up to investigate. But guard your crocus corms!

 

It's mice. They manage forensic extraction and hardly disturb the soil. I planted a load a couple of years ago in a container. I got one flower. Above each corm(bulb?) There was a tiny little hole in the compost

 

Wherever I’ve seen Anémone Blanda growing wild in woodland it’s been in damp, almost boggy woodland that never seems to dry out properly … if that’s of any help.

 

They self seed all over the garden here on our acid clay. Never seen any dug up and eaten, but we seem to have very few mice (with a nod to Hubris).
Our soil does dry out in summer as the trees take out almost all the available moisture.

 

It was commercial compost so extraction would've been much easier than getting it out of the ground. - in my garden anyway.

 

I have had Anemone blanda for a number of years under American oaks, started with a couple of dozen and now there are a few hundred, self seeding into various bits of lawn and flower bed. The area can get quite dry in summer as it's above the rest of the garden.
They share the space with snowdrops, Fritillaria meleagris, Crocus (autumn and spring) and Anemone nemorosa all of which are also spreading. I have squirrels as well and maybe mice, but they leave these and nearby tulips alone.
The couple of times I've tried growing Anemones in pots with compost they have disappeared quite quickly.

 

They seed all over the place in heavy alkaline soil in my garden (and also pop up in the gravel drive from time to time). But something has dug up the ones I planted in pots, leaving holes where the corms were.

 

I hate those meeces to pieces! Which cartoon cat used to say that? Was it Tom and Jerry's adversary or was Tom the cat and Jerry the Mouse? I'll just have to wait half an hour or so to see what trundles round on the carousel inside my brain!

 

Pixie and Dixie?

 

@BB3 you are a star! They're the ones.

 

Are they definitely A. blanda @glosmike ?
I only grow A. nemorosa, but I think blanda prefers drier conditions through the dormant period [summer] even though it doesn't mind moisture when growing/flowering. However, maybe the site just doesn't suit them for some reason. A combination of factors is often a reason for plants failing, rather than just one thing.
Perhaps you have some other wildlife that's enjoying them too

 

Ah @fairygirl it was A nemorosa I was thinking of growing in the woodlands wasn’t it?