Ranunculus Planting Guide
Ranunculus (also known as Persian buttercup) are showy, value-for-money, and incredibly easy to grow - their prolonged flowering period makes them a perfect addition to your garden or balcony.
Ranunculus corms are fairy unusual looking, as they have small fleshy roots, known as claws attached.
All common hybrids have been developed from breeding Ranunculus asiaticus.
The most common Ranunculus are the Tecolote (peony-flowered) hybrids from California. There are also other peony-flowering varieties from Israel and France.
Ranunculus can be planted anytime from late March through to around June.
Planting in the ground or in pots…
- Prior to planting, we recommend chilling your Ranunculus corms in the paper bag they arrived in, for around 3-5 weeks. This will give them a good kick start.
- Ranunculus are best planted in full Sun, or a semi shaded position, and are well suited for pots. Semi shade will help to lengthen their stems.
- It’s essential to have free draining soil, but this can be rectified by raising your beds with compost and other soils if you’re in a heavy clay type area.
- Before planting, soak the Ranunculus in water for around 2 hours.
- Loosen the soil to a depth of around 10-15cm, and mix in some Bulb Food (if you’ve had trouble growing Ranunculus before, try sprouting them in seed raising mix before planting out into the garden)
- Carefully push the small corms into the soil (claws facing downwards) with your finger, to a depth of around 3 - 5cm.
- Soak well once planted, and continue to soak well every week until shoots emerge, and then keep them moist but not wet.
Ranunculus, like Anemones, are reasonably heavy feeders, so a few side dressings of fertiliser over their growing period can help to prolong their flowering significantly.
Ranunculus are a great cut flower, and last well in a vase - to prolong their vase life, pick your Ranunculus blooms half unfurled, and they’ll continue to open up in the vase.
