I thought I'd better post these photos of a new blue anemone before I actually put them in the ground and probably kill them. The tag says it blooms spring to fall, I'm dubious. Looking these up on the Internet and in several resources I don't see any indication that they bloom except in the fall. I have the Whirlybird white anemone which does bloom faithfully every fall, the flowers are much smaller and more delicate than these big fellas. These blue ones remind me of an Oriental poppy in size and I like that dark eye in the center which is rimmed by flower eyelashes. The wind has blown fiercely all week and by now most of the petals have blown off. Sure glad I took a picture.
Last Sunday, before the wind drove me inside, I finally managed to dig, yank, and hack out a rose by the front walk which has been snagging the mailman for a number of years. It used to be Bibi Maizoon, a heavenly cabbage rose that I adored. But Bibi died back to rootstock one winter and ever after it bloomed once a year as a small, pale pink, open-faced rose. It was okay so I left it. But last year all it grew was a giant tangle of thorny branches and no flowers at all.