I'm sorry, but they don't like the heat. Think pansies and you'll understand what they like. I have them blooming now. They aren't happy with the 80+ degree days. It will take 4 months to go from corm to flower...that's August in TX....Yikes!

What you could do: Keep them until October next year. I've don't that and they were fine.

Plant them in pots and keep them in a sunny COOOOL place in your home or office. Someplace that gets sun but also is heavily air conditioned. Before you plant them, soak for several hours or over night. They will swell up and will greatly improve your chances of success.

I have planted liatris and the platycodon in the past. Has cussess with liatris and they can multiply here. I don't have them any more, but not sure why. I had no success with the Platy...probably my own error
c

I'm in a cooler zone then No. Texas, but we are similar enough that usually our planting requirements as far as summer hardiness are close. Liatris does fine planted in early spring when the soil has heated up enough to grow roots (now!). And in our zone 7 area, Anemones CAN be planted as spring flowering bulbs if gotten into the ground early enough. This past winter and now spring has been cooler then usual in our area, so if that applies to you also you may want to give them a try. Perhaps the heat and humidity won't show up until later then normal (mid May for us)...Below is a picture of my front border from a few years ago when my white Liatris was in full bloom (June). You can see what a nice verticle accent point it makes. You probably have the purple Liatris, but the effect will be similar to my white, although the purple usually are not as tall.
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Thanks guys, I planted the anemones this a.m. after soaking them for a good long while. I'm not going to hold out hope to see anything this year, but at least they should be a nice show next spring. And that way if they do something this year I'll just be pleasantly surprised :)

Thanks for the pics of the liatris - how pretty! I'm getting those and the platycodon in the ground today. I love spring!

maryl
That is stunning!

c

thanks for the kind words. I might add that about 3 years ago my white Liatris just kind of pooped out. As you can tell from the amount of plants in the border, it's tough competition for water, nutrients etc. and I think they just finally had enough. But they lasted a good 8 years in those conditions. When we had the big ice storm of 07' it took down our mature Sweet Gum that was in front of this border and it was like a breath of spring air for the border plants. I immediately replanted the white Liatris, but it turned out to be misnamed and was the purple Kobold variety instead. I left it anyway and this year replanted more white Liatris (which I know was white because it was moved from another part of my garden). I really like Liatris if you couldn't tell, and I think you will like yours too Miss em. .......Maryl