RANUNCULUS ASIATICUS a.k.a. PERSIAN BUTTERCUP

It was when I was mooching around the cut-flower stand at Marks and Spencers the other day that I first discovered how incredibly beautiful the flowers of Ranunculus asiaticus are.  They belong to the ranunculaceae family, the buttercup family.  The heavily petalled blooms shown in the below image are about two or three inches (5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter.  I bought a bunch, half price as they were at their sell-by date, and put them in a vase at home.  Sadly, they were not at their best and the weight of the flower heads caused some of the stems to bend quite badly.  I had to cut the stems quite short and put them quite deeply in the vase, but that is by the way; the point is, I was hooked on the vibrant colours and peony-like flowers.  And, the flowers have lasted six days so far.

Ranunculus asiaticus cut flowers

I want to grow them in my garden.  So I ordered 25 tubers (bulbs) on line without properly investigating the ins and outs of growing them.  The tubers arrived in the post yesterday lunchtime and I soaked them in water for 4 hours before planting them about 3cm deep in pots of compost.  Some websites and videos recommend soaking overnight.  Others do not.  The little tubers, only an inch or so across, look like miniature dahlia tubers.




I didn't recall ever seeing Ranunculus asiaticus in flower in a garden centre but, ironically, the day after I ordered the tubers, I went to a garden centre in Tong, West Yorkshire, and they had pots of them for sale; just one colour to a pot at less than £3 a pot.  They were fabulous.  However, when talking to one of the garden centre's horticulturalists, I discovered that the tubers have a high failure rate and that their supplier is considering stopping growing them).   Oh, great!





So, seems that growing Ranunculus asiaticus can be tricky.  There is such a lot of conflicting information out there that I feel quite lost.  I know, that sounds a bit melodramatic but what I am saying is that despite research I remain pretty much in the dark.  Some websites say that they are fully hardy and yet others say that in certain zones which get severely cold winters, the tubers should be dug up and overwintered like dahlia tubers. 




Some websites say that they like partial shade, that Ranunculus asiaticus don't like the heat of hot summers or blazing sun, and that they don't like to be in very wet soil.  The RHS website says they like full sun!  Perhaps full sun but not too much of it?  And some rain but not too much rain that the plants sit in water?   They sound like my resident Ragdoll cat, Alfie.  He likes it not too hot, not too cold, not too windy, not too rainy... 



Some websites say Ranunculas asiaticus are spring flowering whereas other websites say they can be grown to flower in mid, or even late, summer.  As I have only just planted my tubers, I am aiming for blooms in summer.  Of course, I will post here as things progress, or do not progress. Whatever.  They will grow or they won't.




I want to share this video clip with you of Jeff Turner giving advice (he sounds like he comes from my neck of the woods, so that is encouraging weather-wise).

  



As well as at YouTube, you can see more of Jeff Turner's helpful video clips at J Parkers (external link).