Anemone coronaria

Cultivars

Modern cultivars have very large flowers, with diameters of 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) and a wide range of bright and pastel colours, in addition to two toned varieties. The centre is usually black, but may be pale green in white varieties. Stems may be as tall as 40–50 cm (16–20 in), and each plant may produce 13–15 blooms.^[3]

Numerous cultivars have been selected and named, the most popular including the De Caen (single) and St Brigid (semi-double and double) groups of cultivars.^[19] The De Caen group are hybrids cultivated in the districts of Caen and Bayeux in France in the 18th century,^[4] and include 'Bicolor' (red with white), 'Blue Poppy' (blue), 'Mr Fokker' (purple), 'Sylphide' (deep pink) and 'The Bride' (white). Referred to as poppy anemones because they closely resemble the true poppy (Papaveroideae). St. Brigid cultivars originated in Ireland, and named after that county's saint, they include 'Lord Lieutenant' (purple blue) and 'The Governor' (red).^[20] In addition to these large groups, there are two minor groups, Rissoana which is very rustic and early blooming (November) and Grassensis with large double flowers that bloom in the spring.^[3]

Greek

The Adonis myth tells of how the goddess Aphrodite is the lover of a handsome youth, Adonis. When the latter is gored by a wild boar, Aphrodite rushes to help him. Finding him lifeless, she transforms him by turning his blood into the red anemone.^[21] This amorous and calamitous significance also exists on the island of Cyprus and has earned the plant its presence in various European art forms.^[22]

English

In England, the flower is known as "windflower," referring to the seeming appearance of the wind opening the flowers (anemone is Greek for wind.) In remembrance of the Adonis myth, red anemones are known as Adonis flowers.^[23]

Christian

The flowers have traditionally been associated with the term "lily of the field" used in the Christian Beatitudes. Matthew 6 compares lilies of the field to Solomon, stating that they effortlessly trump even the great king in terms of splendid garb.^[24]

Mention of a solitary, brilliant red anemone which made its journey from the Holy Land to Pisa in the twelfth century during the Second Crusade exists. Its luminousness was attributed to the flower's absorption of Christian blood spilled in the soil of the Holy Land during battle, but can practically be explained by the fact that Anemones in Israel (Anemone coronaria) are a more dazzling he than their counterpart in Italy (Anemone pavonina.)^[25]

Renaissance

Wealthy gardeners prized flowers from exotic lands, and showcased them in their gardens. Botanical pursuits were lauded. Anemones were one of the flowers most showcased during this era, both in Italy and further north in Europe, i.e. Austria, Belgium, and Holland. Hence the flower came to symbolize affluence.^[26]

Palestinian

The poppy is a symbol of Palestine, with its colors—green in the stem, red in the flower petals, black in central blossom, and white in the small ring around the blossom—evoking the colors of the Palestinian flag.^[9] It has appeared in Palestinian protest art, especially as a symbol of sacrifice or return.^{[9][27][28][29][30][31]}

According to Nasser Abufarha, "the poppy is the dominant Palestinian spring flower that children normally collect from the hillside."^[9] Abufarha writes that the poppy flower has been used in popular Palestinian representations to symbolize the blood in the land of the fidā'ī, the "heroic warrior sacrificer"; the šahīd, "victim youth sacrificer"; or the istišhādi, "moving the Shahid from victim to hero and asserting the intentionality of the sacrifice."^[9] Abufarha describes these figures as icons of the "three distinct periods in the contemporary Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation and rule," referring to the guerrilla warfare of the Palestinian fedayeen in the 1960s and 1970s, the First Intifada (1987–1993), and the Second Intifada (2000–2005)—the blood and sacrifice of all of whom Palestinians have represented with the poppy.^[9]

In popular Palestinian narrative dating back to Canaanite and Phoenician times, the red color of flower's petals is from the blood of martyrs in the land.^[9] The narrative is related to the story of the Greek mythological figure Adonis, a boy representing the ideal of male beauty who was killed by a wild boar in the forests of Lebanon and whose blood nourished the land from which the red anemone grew.^[9] Abufarha notes that the flower thus came to represent "renewal, resurrection, and life."^[9]

Israeli

In 2013 Anemone coronaria was elected as the national flower of the State of Israel, in a poll arranged by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (החברה להגנת הטבע) and Ynet.^[32] Each year in Israel there is a month-long festival to celebrate the blooming of the red anemones.^[33] In addition to admiring the flowers, the event includes guided nature and history excursions in the area, cooking and painting classes, herb, spice, vegetable, and fruit markets, and entertainment such as musical performances. In 2016, Shoshana Damari performed her iconic song "Kalaniyot," a tribute to red anemones.^[34]

Post October 7, 2023: after Hamas' massacre of Israelis and foreign nationals, the festival went on hiatus, or at least morphed: in February, 2024, the festival was cancelled, but The International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, together with the KKL-JNF, pledged to plant 1,200 memorial trees in the area, dedicated to the 1,200 terror victims of October 7th. Meanwhile, the blooms offered a sense of life's renewal, resilience, and strength after so much anguish.^[35] In January, 2025, it was temporarily renamed "Darom B'Lev" (The South in our Hearts, as opposed to "Darom Adom," The Red South.) At this point, the event focused on supporting families whose loved ones were being held hostage in Gaza.^[36] In February 2026, after all hostages, both dead and alive, were secured from Gaza, the festival returned, but under its changed 2024 name. Picnic baskets were sold, workshops returned, and even horseback riding and hot air balloon rides were offered, giving a sense of rejuvenation to the region.^[37]

Art

The flower was the subject of Israeli art way prior to. October 7th, a positive symbol of passion and the emotion evoked by nature. Its strong colors were also indicative of the harmony inherent in cooperative dwellings. But sometimes the color evoked a sense of foreboding, due to its association with the "Red Alert" warning when there were threats in the area.^[38] Post-October 7th, it has been used profusely in. Israeli art, symbolizing both loss and hope, as in the exhibit "Anemones before the Rain," depicting both a water cascade and 5,000 clay anemones, homemade by Israeli volunteers throughout the country.^[39]