Kathleen on the Oregon coast wrote: >I know Anemone blanda is considered an easy bulb to grow. But not >for me: I've managed to kill it off more times than I can recall, so >I want to know who grows it successfully, year after year, and the >details of the conditions in your garden, please. It naturalizes by self-sowing in many Pacific Northwest gardens, usually in shady spots though I don't think it requires shade. I expect that poor drainage is what's causing Kathleen to lose it. It tolerates summer irrigation as long as the soil is well-drained. I like to buy the kind offered as "Blue Shades" in Dutch bulb catalogs, though the white ones are pretty too. The so-called pink ones are not pleasing for me. When you get them, be sure to soak the tubers for about a day in room-temperature water before planting them; this will increase your chances of success a lot. It grows in a flat, half-sunny border and under an oak tree in my former garden, where the soil is very fast-draining, but in the new garden, which has heavy clay soil, I planted it on a slope with plenty of organic soil amendment. Jane McGary Portland, Oregon, USA