A Passion for the Pasque Flower

I only learned about anemones once we moved from the city and I started to garden. I think I love them as much for their beauty as for the melodious pronunciation of their name “a NEM o nee.” This picture was taken at the market in Menton, France last Saturday on a day of site-seeing after a business trip to Cannes.

Anemones are also commonly known as pasque (from pasch or paschal, Easter) flowers, due to their habit of flowering between late March and early June, an odd attribution for me, since I equate them with the summer. But in South Dakota, often peaking through the snow, they are the first sign that spring has arrived. By summer, when they are blooming in New York, their Great Plains’ region lifecycle is complete. Not surprisingly, the anemone is South Dakota’s state flower.

Along with clematis, buttercups, columbines, delphiniums, and poppies, all varieties I happen to favor, they are part of the ranunculaceae family. Quite accidentally I caught some ranunculi in the top right corner of this photo.

Here are some links for additional information on this plant, its family, and relationship to South Dakota. Happy Spring