Last Sunday I visited the Rucphen botanical garden and this typical sign of spring was present. I always like to see them. This is what Wikipedia told me about this flowerd. 'Anemone nemorosa is an early-spring flowering plant in the Genus Anemone in the family Ranunculaceae. Common names include wood anemone, windflower, European thimbleweed and smell fox. They are perennial herbaceous plants, growing in early spring from 5 to 15 cm tall. Plants start blooming soon after the foliage emerges from the ground, with the leaves parted into three segments and the flowers produced in the middle of the foliage on short stems above the foliage with one flower per stem. The plants grow from underground stems called rhizomes. The plants die back down to the root-like rhizomes by mid summer (summer dormant). The rhizomes spread just below the soil surface, forming long spreading clumps that grow quickly, contributing to its rapid spread in woodland conditions, where they often carpet large areas. The flower is 2 cm diameter, with six or seven petal-like segments (actually tepals) with many stamens. In the wild the flowers are usually white, but may be pinkish, lilac or blue, and often have a darker tint to the back of the 'petals'. The flowers lack both fragrance and nectar and it has been suggested by some authors that they are primarily self-pollinated, but it has also been demonstrated that they are pollinated by bees and other insects that visit the flowers to collect pollen (Shirreffs 1985). The plant has poisonous chemicals that are toxic to animals including humans, but it has also been used as a medicine. All parts of the plant contain protoanemonin, which can cause severe skin and gastrointestinal irritation.'