When it comes to late-season display however, the fully hardy anemone putting on the show is usually Anemone hupehensis, A. tomentosa or A. x hybrida aka the Japanese anemone or windflower. As an aside, windflower is the common name for all anemones, which further illustrates why it’s good to know the botanical names of plants as well as their common ones.

Regardless, windflower is an excellent name for these wispy yet vigorous flowers which top tall wiry stems held well above the lovely masses of lobed or dissected foliage. They are part-shade lovers, and therefore not only brighten parts of the garden that might feel a little dreary, but do so at a time when other better-known perennials have already come and gone. Because the blooms are very summer-esque and come in many colors commonly associated with the high season, you’re likely to get a few "What are those?!?" remarks from visitors.

Such remarks shouldn’t be so satisfying, but sadly they are, so let’s explore the windflower and how you can grow it in your garden.

First, pick a spot that is sheltered from heavy winds. Windflowers may dance attractively in a breeze, but they’re not going to be happy (read: erect) after a severe storm. They appreciate a moisture retentive soil that is rich in organic matter, and once they are planted they would really rather that you left them alone to take over that bit of the garden.

Each time I have divided windflowers I have regretted it, but then, each time I have done so I have sent the divisions off to live somewhere they have no business living – such as dry, silty soil or full sun in sand. Divisions are always slow to recover anyway – making it difficult on them with tough conditions isn’t the brightest idea. Learn from my mistakes and give these plants the good soil they desire.

If you do, you will be rewarded with exceptionally vigorous plants whose foliage will emerge early in spring and could almost be classified as a ground cover throughout the growing season. You will also be rewarded with needing to divide them – as I didn’t say ‘vigorous’ for nothing.

Windflowers prefer shelter from burning afternoon sun. Hence they are very popular with gardeners trying to extend the season in their lightly shaded spots. One of my absolute favorite combinations is the pairing of pure white ‘Honorine Jobert’ blooms (A. x hybrida) with low-lying branches of winterberry (Ilex verticillata) before the leaves have dropped on the winterberry yet the branches are laden with red fruit.

‘Honorine Jobert’ was the Perennial Plant Association’s Perennial of the Year a few years back, but I am equally fond of the slightly shorter ‘Andrea Atkinson’ and the lovely pink ‘September Charm.’ Often times it is really about what I can get hold of easily during the spring planting season, and as a grower friend always tells me, it’s tough to sell something that doesn’t bloom until fall. After a quick local nursery scan, anemone collectors might be better off using the services of Google to find those rarer cultivars.

Flowers can be single, double or semi-double and most often are found in deepening shades of pink or white. The sepals are most often contrasted with striking orange stamens, but some are quite delicate, like A. tomentosa ‘Robustissima’ that almost has a blueish cast to the sepals. If you play your cards right and mix your cultivars, you can have windflowers blooming from late July through late October.

In fact, you can have them blooming even earlier than that – ‘Wild Swan,’ an exciting newish cultivar selected by Scottish nursery owner Elizabeth MacGregor, starts blooming in late spring and features white sepals with lilac-blue backsides. It’s absolutely stunning. I’ve killed it twice, but one lives in hope – I will no doubt try it again.

Other great pairings to try with Japanese anemones? Aster, Sheffield mums, pennisetum, panicum, aconitum, hosta, ligularia and just about anything else that can stand up to it and through which it can send those lovely wiry flowers.

Give it try next year if you haven’t already. Meanwhile, look out for it in the gardens of others this month and into October.