Most gardeners appreciate a beautiful bouquet and regularly snip a few stems for dining room and bedside tables. If you cut flowers for indoor use, please make room in your garden for ranunculus. Incredible colors, straight stems, long vase life and copious blooms will be yours. In return, these lacy-leafed plants will ask for sunshine and very light watering. No meticulous care needed.

Your borders and beds will look great, your office desk will sport fresh flowers for pennies and your neighbour will be by asking for your gardening secret.

Outdoor Beds

1. Find a location where the soil drains well. If there are still water puddles 5-6 hours after a hard rain, scout out another site. Or amend the soil with the addition of organic material to raise the level 10 cm to improve the drainage. Peat moss, compost, ground bark or decomposed manure all work well and are widely available.

2. Site your ranunculus where they will get full day sun.

3. Dig holes and plant the ranunculus bulbs 5cm deep and 5-10cm apart. The bulbs look like small, dark bunches of bananas, a curious shape that makes it easy to determine which side is up and which is down for planting. Tuck your ranunculus into the planting hole with the “bananas” pointing down.

5. After planting, water well, thoroughly soaking the area. Roots and sprouts will form in the autumn. Winter will bring taller growth and flowers will develop in the spring.

6. When in bloom, feel free to cut ranunculus flowers for bouquets. This will not hurt your plants, in fact, the more you cut the more blooms your ranunculus will produce. So snip away.

7. After blooming has finished for the season leave the foliage in place; don't cut it off. The leaves will gather sunlight and provide nourishment for next year's show. Water as needed during active growth periods. Ranunculus actually prefer not to be watered while dormant.

8. At the end of the summer the leaves will yellow and die back as the plant slips into dormancy. Foliage many be removed at this point. Your ranunculus will rest for a few months before beginning the next growing cycle.

Pots, Tubs & Urns

1. Fill your containers with good quality, well-drained soil. Almost any commercially available potting medium will work fine. Make sure there are adequate drainage holes; ranunculus must never sit in waterlogged soil or they will rot.

2. Site containers where they will receive full day sun.

3. Plant your ranunculus 5cm deep and 5-10cm apart for the most brilliant display. The bulbs look like small, dark bunches of bananas, a curious shape that makes it easy to determine which side is up and which is down for planting. Tuck your ranunculus into the planting hole with the “bananas” pointing down.

4. After planting, water ranunculus well, thoroughly soaking the area. Roots and sprouts will form in the autumn. Winter will bring taller growth and flowers will develop in the spring. (Spring planted ranunculus will bloom the first year in late summer and in the spring subsequent years in frost-free areas.)

5. After blooming has finished for the season leave the foliage in place, don't cut it off. The leaves will gather sunlight and provide nourishment for next year's show. Water as needed during active growth periods. Ranunculus actually prefer not to be watered while dormant.

6. At the end of the summer the leaves will yellow and die back as the plant slips into dormancy. Foliage many be removed at this point. Your ranunculus will rest for a few months before beginning the next growing cycle.

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Ranunculus Growing Guide