Despite its fragile appearance, the anemone fears neither cold nor wind and adapts to all containers. Hyacinths, which would naturally bloom in March, are coaxed out of their bulbs in December. As for the hellebore, originally from Central Europe, it's a real force of nature, capable of keeping its flowers for weeks, even months.

Even when cut, even when in a vase, even when sheltered from the wind and drafts, the anemone continues to dance, that's its nature. It twists, "bends, straightens, undulates like a snake," said Tiphaine Turluche, an eco-responsible florist and founder of the company Les Bottes d'Anémone in Vannes, in Brittany. "It's a show that changes every day." Whether it's the dahlia-like Full Star, the voluptuous Marianne or the sturdy Mona Lisa, the anemones work on their flexibility and adapt to their environment.

It doesn't matter if it's in a florist's plastic bucket or a Baccarat vase, Turluche explained that "the anemone wraps itself against their walls, as if to envelop them." And if it starts to lean dangerously, "it's not because of its weight," said Turluche, as the flower is light and delicate, but because its stem allows it. Something of a contortionist, it's capable of forming an "S" to prove it.

This is the result of a tough upbringing, said Julien Frere-Mottant, an artisan florist at l’Officine Florale in Paris. "Since it often grows under the wind, it has to develop a sturdy stem," which bends but doesn't break, allowing it to maintain a certain poise for 10 to 12 days indoors.

Flexible, yes, but not so docile. "Anemones require a certain amount of dexterity," noted the florist, "they can grow another four to five centimeters between the time they're assembled in the store and the time they wilt at the customer's home. It's a bouquet that evolves."

To ensure that they retain a certain elegance, even after their growth spurt, he inserts them in lichen or a few twigs arranged like a small nest, "this allows me to stabilize them without imprisoning them." He then recommends placing them in fairly short, wide-necked vases to let them flourish. If possible, next to hyacinths, the season's companions, chosen in the same shades.

He matches the violet-blue hue of some to the baby blue of others, the lightly pearly ivory-powder-pink petals to an imposing, fragrant pale-pink stem: "This creates something precious, and a little mysterious, because at night, some of them close up as if they were going to sleep," he observed. As they age, the anemones curl up, their petals becoming as thin as cigarette paper, ready to be preserved in a herbarium.

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