Grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima'
Anemone tomentosa 'Robustissima' ·
The toughest and earliest of the autumn anemones: silvery-pink flowers on tall stems from August, above vine-like leaves. It spreads strongly.
- Size
- 3½ ft tall, 2½ ft wide
- Zones
- 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Mid August to mid September
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima'
The planner designed this bed around grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' × 3, pink
- 2 Stemless gentian × 20, blue
- 3 Mouse-ear coreopsis 'Nana' × 14, yellow
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 5, yellow
- 5 Globe arborvitae 'Danica' × 1, green leaves
- 6 Coneflower 'Green Jewel' × 3, green
- 7 Camassia × 1, white
- 8 Spring starflower × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only open bowls. The others are trumpets, daisies and spires. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3½ ft it is among the tallest plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to coneflower 'Green Jewel' (24 in): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for six weeks. From mid August to mid September.
- Part of the bed's peak. With brown-eyed Susan and coneflower 'Green Jewel' in mid August: 3 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 6 groups (83%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. There is more stemless gentian than anything else, 20 plants in all. Cool colours (pink and blue) with yellow as the warm note, and green and white to calm things between them.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 5 Good, 1 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' spreads aggressively. Each plant's details say more.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' goes in a border
At 3½ ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is moderately tall (3 to 4 ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
It takes more sun, cold and drought than the Japanese hybrids, and spreads faster. Use it where it can make a broad drift, and keep it away from small, slow neighbours.
- Late colour for sun or part shade
- Covering large areas
- The cold end of the anemone range
What to plant with grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Hosta: its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after; bold leaves against its medium ones; low enough (18 in) to stand in front of it.
- New England aster: in flower together for three weeks, from early September; happy in the same moist soil.
- Switchgrass 'Shenandoah': its green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima'
Does grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' need sun or shade?
Grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 8. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid August to mid September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Late August to mid September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Mid August to mid September |
| Zone 6 | Mid August to mid September |
| Zone 7 | Early August to mid September |
| Zone 8 | Early August to mid September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' be planted?
24 in (60 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 2½ ft (75 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3½ ft (100 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' plants do I need?
At 24 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 3 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 6 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 10 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to people, dogs, cats and horses. The sap can irritate skin, and all parts cause mouth and stomach upset if eaten.
Is there a pet-safe plant like grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima'?
These come closest to doing what grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Obedient plant: the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour.
- Garden phlox: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same colour; flowers mid July to early September.
- Joe Pye weed 'Little Joe': the same job in a bed and the same colour; 8 in taller, flowers late July to early September.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
Will grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' spread?
It spreads sideways, by runners or roots; the risk of it taking over is high. Spreads aggressively by underground runners and is hard to remove once established. Plant it only where it can be contained.
What flowers after grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima'?
Grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' is over by mid September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Toad lily: from mid September to mid October, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue wood aster: from mid September to mid October, 3 ft tall.
What does grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' look like in winter?
Grape-leaf anemone 'Robustissima' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Anemone
- Anemone 'Wild Swan' Anemone 'Wild Swan'
- Canada anemone Anemone canadensis
- Grecian windflower Anemone blanda
- Japanese anemone Anemone x hybrida
- Japanese anemone 'Honorine Jobert' Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'
- Japanese anemone 'September Charm' Anemone x hybrida 'September Charm'
- Snowdrop anemone Anemone sylvestris
- Wood anemone Anemone nemorosa
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3½ ft (100 cm) tall, 2½ ft (75 cm) wide
- Plant
- 24 in (60 cm) apart
- Height class
- Moderately tall (3 to 4 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid August to mid September; open bowls; pink
- Leaves
- Medium texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Average, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.