Garden Plants - Anemone

The old name for the anemone is the windflower, which may have come about because they tend to grow on windy sites and anemos is Greek for wind. Culpeper claims that the flowers never open unless the wind blows, but then goes on to say 'Pliny is my source; if it be not so, blame him' which is a bit of a cop out!

The Persian for Adonis is Naamen - and anemones have long been associated with Adonis, with whom Aphrodite fell in love when he was born, which you might think is a bit early for passion, but Gods do as they please in these matters. After that, the story has three different versions:

1. His mother was turned into a myrrh tree and Adonis was born from this tree; he grew to be a beautiful young man and Aphrodite fell in love with him
2. Aphrodite put Adonis in a chest and sent him to the Underworld; Zeus had sympathy for the beautiful young man and allowed him to live half of the year with Persephone in the Underworld and the other half with Aphrodite on the earth's surface

Neither of which helps us. The third version says:

Adonis was raised by nymphs and met Aphrodite while he was hunting; he was killed by a wild boar sent by Ares (God of War) and from his blood sprang the anemone.

The anemone may also be the 'lily of the field' mentioned in the New Testament, in terms of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount 'Why take ye thought for raiment [clothing]? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.'

Garden Anemone photograph by color line, used under a creative commons attribution licence