What Colors Do Anemone Flowers Come In?
Known as Windflowers and sometimes confused for poppies, Anemones are delicate and colorful flowers that can be grown in gardens worldwide. It’s easy to find varieties of this plant that bloom in the spring, summer, or fall. This allows you to create a display for all three seasons just from the same plant. If you’re looking for color variety, you’re in luck. Anemones come in a wide range of colors for all three blooming seasons to help you mix and match for a beautiful yard with less effort.
Key Takeaways
The majority of Anemone varieties are some form of pink or reddish color in varying intensities. White is the second most common color, followed by yellow or gold. Less common colors include lavender, magenta, and two-tone varieties.
Anemone Flower Color Varieties:
The primary colors of Anemones all have their own meanings, so consider color theory when mixing and matching varieties for a gorgeous bed or container. Here are the most common colors for Anemone flowers of all species and varieties.
Lavender Anemones
A light purple color is common for Anemone varieties, especially the lower growing types favored as ground covers.
As a diluted form of purple, lavender is often associated with elegance and intelligence. It doesn’t convey quite the same sense of royalty and regalness as an intense purple shade, but it’s still linked to luxury.
The ‘Lavender-Pink’ variety of Anemone hortensis is very rare, but it features both a light purple petal and a more intensely purple center.
Anemone oregana is native to North America and has a delicate, nearly blue flower with just five petals, giving it a starry look among the foliage.
Many varieties of Anemone blanda are lavender or bluish as well, including ‘Blue Shades’. It’s easy to find anemones of all shapes, sizes, and foliage types offering light purple flowers.
Red Anemones
The Poppy Anemone, or A. coronaria, has many varieties that show off a rich red color. This helps them look even more like the popular poppy while being far easier to grow.
Red colors inflame passions and symbolize strong feelings, especially those of love. Adding red flowers to your landscape can spice up the darker foliage and help add energy and enthusiasm that carries through to the red leaves of fall.
Popular red varieties of Anemone include ‘Hollandia’, with its black centers for contrast, and the spiky double blooms of the unusual-looking ‘Governor Double Red’ variety.
‘Harmony Scarlet’ is as bold as its name suggests and has a deep purple center worth seeing for its color alone.
Pink Anemones
Perhaps the most common color for all Anemones, especially the fall-blooming varieties, pink is both eye-catching and mood-boosting. The color pink is also generally considered a symbol of innocence, playfulness, and fun.
Adding more pink to your landscape can help draw in butterflies, bees, and other pollinators as well. Even hummingbirds may be attracted to some extra hot pink blooms in the garden.
Try cutting some pink Anemones to send a message of friendship and support to someone going through a tough time.
‘Sylphide’ is a poppy-type of Anemone that has a hot pink color that fades to white around a dark center for a colorful two-tone look.
The ‘Blush’ variety of the Italian Anemone has a mottled white to pink appearance with the beauty of a dyed flower straight from nature.
‘Cinderella’ blooms in the fall with big pink blooms that have soft yellow centers.
Bi-color pink varieties include the popular ‘Mona Lisa’, which is available in both a bi-color soft pink and white type and a more shocking hot pink cultivar.
Purple Anemones
Darker purple and violet Anemones contrast against pink and white blooms in a mixed planting. The ‘De Caen Mix’ of popular poppy-type Anemones includes multiple violet blooms with a watercolor or painted look you’ll love. ‘Mr. Fokker’ is a violet Anemone that is as close to a true blue as you’ll get with this flower.
Purple flowers symbolize royalty and majesty, making it a good choice for celebrating reaching the top of your career or winning the lottery. It’s also tied to intelligence, wealth, and generosity.
Adding a little more purple to your landscape can make it more dramatic, especially with darker shades.
Another great Anemone option that comes in purple is the ‘Bowles’ variety, which has an appearance almost like saffron crocuses. It’s part of the Anemone nemorosa species native to Europe and barely grows taller than 8 inches.
Magenta Anemones
Magenta is a rare shade for Anemones, but some cultivars do manage to combine red and purple in a bold way in the petals. These Anemones are great for symbolizing maturity and depth of feeling towards someone. While there is sometimes a romantic slant to this color, it’s more commonly used to represent honoring one’s parents or elders.
An excellent variety for showing off a true magenta color in the garden is the Italian Anemone known as “Mistral Magenta”. Few other types even approach its color and rarely qualify for the description of genuine magenta, but a wine-colored alternative is the ‘Bordeaux’ variety with a dark center.
White Anemones
White is one of the most common colors for Anemones, and it’s anything but boring. Some white flowers are bright and pure, while others are mixed with hints of pink or purple to give the plant a soft watercolor-touched look.
White flowers symbolize purity, innocence, and getting a fresh start. It’s also commonly used to memorialize a loved one that was lost.
There are many popular white varieties for the garden, but the ‘Honorine Jobert’ cultivar has both a long history and dark foliage that contrasts the bright blooms.
‘The Bride’, as the name suggests, is as white as a wedding gown and just as elegant.
‘Wild Swan’ Japanese Anemones are particularly eye-catching for their twisted white petals.
‘Mt. Everest’ is almost a cream color, adding warmth to the cool white tones more common for the Anemone flower.
Yellow and Gold Anemones
Yellow and gold are not common colors for Anemones, but there are a few varieties featuring these colors. Yellow flowers symbolize wealth, good health, and happiness.
The Anemone ranunculoides variety known as ‘Orange’ isn’t actually orange, but rather a stunning gold.
Most Anemones with a yellow color are a type of Anemone ranunculoides because it’s known as the Yellow Wood Anemone.
Anemone Colors – The Final Word
Make Anemones a part of your garden to appreciate their beauty and delicacy. There’s a color to match every landscaping design so you can complete the look you want while enjoying the low-maintenance beauty of these flowers. Choose a range of different colors to create a mixed look for a flower bed, along with mixing varieties that bloom in different seasons for months of beauty.