What;'s this flower?

[WigWamBam]

I've seen a lovely little alpine (I think) flower in someone's garden and I'd love to know what it is so I can get some! It looks a bit like a daisy in form, but bigger, it has long, slim petals around a dark centre, the flower is about 2" across and opens wide out in sunshine but seems to close again in the shade. The flower is a dark bluey/purple colour, a bit like the colour of a dark Michaelmas daisy, the stem is short, and there is a small amount of slightly feathered foliage. Anyone know what this is?

Aha ! How about using the Queens Head affixed to a piece of paper stuck on an envelope ?

WWB, if I stand behind you, would you knock then ?

Make a big sign saying "WHAT IS THS PLANT?", put it on a stake and hammer it into their flower bed.

Send your dh to ask?? We need to know the answer, WWB, so we can all get them!

Maybe you could imagine all of the posters on this thread standing behind you - some to the left, some to the right, some taller, some shorter. A great big crowd.

You could knock on any door you little star

Don't suppose This Anemone De Caen Mr Fokker is any good for you ?

hub2dee, if you stood behind me I would run away!

I can't knock on people's doors! Don't laugh at me for being a wimp!

But I'm nice, me, aside from that foul odour, and you kind of get used to it after a little while.

Also am not laughing at you... Just doing powerful remote visualisation exercises to transform your thought patterns and make you into an Unstoppable Door Knockerer.

The foul odour I can stand, it's being pushed into knocking on the door of a complete stranget that I can't do. I prefer it under my stone.

I've got some of the ones that CD linked to, and its out in flower now.

WWB, just out of interest, how would you feel if someone knocked at your door tomorrow and said "sorry to disturb you, I noticed that really pretty shrub / climber / garden gnome. Can I ask what it's called / where you got it / if you eat worms ?"

Would you mind (presuming they looked friendly enough) ? I doubt it.

If they've got a garden they tend well, or unusual plants, I'd bet my bottom dollar you'd bring them pleasure by taking an interest.

....It's not working is it, toadie ?... oh dear....

That's different really ... I know that I'm nice and I'm not likely to chase someone down the drive with a meat cleaver, so I know that I'm no-one to be frightened of!

I just can't do it, OK?

I'm not asking you to do it, just exploring around the concept of doing it, oh ribbeting toad.

What's interesting is that you don't actually seem to have an issue with the knocking on stranger's door, but the possibility they are nasty / rude / psycho and have misunderstood the French interest for cuisses de grenouille for other herpological body parts.

Hmmm... strokey beardy...

Is there really a realistic chance this near-neighbor is psycho-bod ?

Anyway... back to this little blue plant...

I have an issue with knocking on a stranger's door. The fact that they might be meat-cleaver-weilding psychos is neither here nor there

If they're a keen gardener, you might spot them in the garden - and if you see no meat-cleaver about their person - you could approach them then?

I did this a couple of years ago asking about a plant (a small blue flower as it happens), the chap passed me some seeds later in the year. But also it turns out he's a keen astronomer, and when exciting events are happening in the heavens he and his mate have telescopes and cameras and 'stuff' out, and they accost us on the way to/from school, and drag the dss in to witness these momentous events. (Sorry, it's not my thing, and I can't remember anything we've seen, and the boys are in bed asleep.) But my point is we've actually made friends this way, and dss have learned something, (even if I haven't!)

damn i knew i should have looked to see if the label was still next to mine ( i normally dig them in the earth to remind me ) But i thought nahh someone will already know the name! I shall look tomorrow.

The woman was in the garden when I passed today and got chatting to my dd, she didn't seem to have any meat cleavers about her person so I asked her. She knows even less about gardening than I do because she swears blind that they're vinca. I do know what vinca looks like and it's most definitely not that, so I'm right back where I started from!

Vincas don't have feathery foliage do they?! Looked at the blue anemones in my garden and they've actually got yellow centres, not dark. And its not at all purple, its bright blue. So, don't think it can be that.

WWB: You can never be sure about the cleaver. Did you see both hands at once ? It's an old trick.

Only winding you up toadie. Do you have a digital camera or a mobile phone that can take snaps ? Maybe a picture would help - there are a few alpine growers in our hort soc and maybe someone could identify it ?

I made her hold her hands up in the air so that I could check she had no meat cleavers in her hands. I'm not so green as I'm cabbage-looking

If I can ever remember to grab the digital camera from my bear-grappler I can take a picture, I'm sure someone somewhere will recognise it once they see it!

Is it a japanese anemone?

Hands in the air works ONLY if she wasn't wearing a belt.

PLEASE be careful (with both that lady and bear grappler)... it's dangerous out there.

BTW, for my curiosity, toadieWWB, do you lay any claim to ShyShyShy ?

I make no claims to anything whatsoever.

(I never, ever, ever own up to anything, it could get me into trouble).

I understand. Even my wife doesn't know I'm a hairy trucker, but she doesn't read MN much, so I think I'm OK.

May your stone be blessed with a velvet lining, and may worms be charmed into your path, and may badgers lie quietly schnurkling as you hop by.

I've got the RHS encyclo. A-Z in front of me. Do you have one - Was going to browse anenomes for you...

BTW, are you sure it's not a hepatica ?

There are two pages there. If it doesn't work, go to the homepage and middle top left there is a hepatica picture link.