If you follow our ele Instagram will know that we are a little garden and flower obsessed and recently we have been experimenting with growing beautiful Rananculus.
These flowers can often be overlooked for peonies and roses however these wonderful spring flowering bulbs make a gorgeous addition to any garden. They are fairly hardy too and not difficult to grow and their beautiful bright colours make for gorgeous cut flowers and bouquets.
Ranunculus can be grown from seed however they are typically sold as ‘corms’ (little brown bulbs that look like tiny octopus).
Here are a few of our top tips for growing these wonderful flowers.
Location
Ranunculus are suitable for both the ground or pots, just make sure or choose a full sun position and plant about 15cm apart, 3cm underneath the soil. The ranunculus corms should be planted with their legs pointing downwards. You can pre-soak the bulks for 3-4 hours in room temperature water before planting, but be careful not to oversoak the bulbs.
When to plant bulbs
Bulbs are planted in Autumn, however if you live in a warmer climate wait until later in the season to start planting. Flowers will begin to appear from late winter through spring. Staggering planting is a great idea so you can enjoy flowers over a longer period.
Watering
Water ranunculus bulbs in well when they are first planted and continue to give a good soaking until shoots start to appear. After that, natural rain fall supplemented with occasional watering should be adequate, unless you are in a dry region with very little rain.
Feeding
Feed with a good quality organic fertiliser when planted and then follow up with more fertilisation about two months after bulbs are planted. Keep an eye out for snails too who seem to enjoy co-habitating with ranunculus!
Picking
Ranunculus make excellent cut flowers and will last in a vase for about ten days. Pick blooms when they are small buds about the size of a marshmallow and slightly soft to the touch.
How to store
At the end of the flowering season once the plants have died off, pull bulbs up and store away in a cool, dark spot until the following season. After 2 to 3 years you may find that you need to replace some bulbs if they have stopped producing flowers.
You can leave bulbs in the ground if you prefer and we have had some success doing this, with our Ranunculus flowers growing well each year.
Lastly, enjoy these stunning vibrant additions to the garden, or if you aren’t a keen gardener look out for them in florists from late winter onwards.
Want more garden tips? Click here for tips on growing beautiful dahlias, and here for keeping gorgeous roses blooming through autumn.
Gorgeous! I haven’t had luck with them. I think it’s the watering. I either water too much or too little. Not many plants will put up with that sort of mistreatment.
They can be challenging in a climate where rainfall isn’t enough to keep them happy. A good once a week soak should be plenty, combined with a sunny spot and grown in pots. If it is really hot and dry in your climate you may need to water a little more but in winter/spring it should be fine. Good luck!
Beautiful, love the orange and greens together
Thank you!
Beautiful-by sneakpeekintomytastydelights.wordpress.com
Just beautiful!
I haven’t had much luck growing them, but am now tempted to try again!
Good luck! have you tried in pots, ours seem happier in a pot than in the ground for some reason!
I planted them in the ground and then just up when nothing happened. I’ll definately give pots a try. Thanks!
Never heard of these before. I am going to look them up and see if I can order some bulbs.
Definitely see if you can find them, they are really beautiful. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the tips. A lot of the time folks are hesitant to garden because of the fear of failure. So posts like these come in handy!!!
Wow! Those are gorgeous! I do miss having a garden, so I love seeing other people’s gardening posts.
Thank you! They are such a beautiful flowers!
Hi,
Loved this article especially point about Top Tips for Growing Ranunculus Flowers
sharing this on facebook and pinterest
Thanks so much Mary!
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So beautiful 💐
Thank you!