Ranunculus are like the Labradoodle of the bulb world; they look like a rose, come in all kinds of gorgeous colors, and arrange beautifully but they do not have a scent. This means they can be enjoyed by people with allergies or who are sensitive to aromas. Though ranunculus are popular cut flowers with florists and wedding bouquet designers, they aren’t as well known to home gardeners. But they’d look fantastic in your garden, so you should plant some!

Though it may not be commonly seen in home gardens, the ranunculus is one of the most eye-catching plants you can grow in your garden and command a lot of attention thanks to their striking beauty. These majestic looking blossoms are usually only seen in the more posh flower shops or as part of a bride’s stunning wedding bouquet. In areas with mild winter temps (zone 7 and above) ranunculus can be planted in the fall and successfully overwintered outdoors with minimal protection, such as a low tunnel or frost cloth. But the cultivated variety (Ranunculus ‘asiaticus’), commonly referred to as Persian buttercups, produces large showy blooms that resemble roses. These tender perennial plants can be grown as perennials in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 through 10 but must be grown as annuals in cooler zones. Plant jumbo ranunculus tubers one to two inches deep and eight to 12 inches apart in a well-draining location in full sun with the claw pointing downward. Zones 8 to 11 should plant between October and November. Ranunculus can be started in cooler regions in the spring one to two weeks before the last predicted frost. Plant ranunculus in beds and borders, cutting gardens and containers. They are good companions for other spring flowers such as primroses, pansies and larkspur. In climates where ranunculus are not winter hardy (zones 4-7), the corms are usually planted in spring for flowers in late summer.

You’ll want to plant enough to cut and bring indoors to enjoy, too, since they're such great cut flowers. Why let the florists have all the fun?

What Is a Cutting Garden?

This is easy—it’s just what it sounds like! No, really, a cutting garden is composed of plants that you plan to cut for floral arrangements. Typical cutting garden plants have common characteristics, such as nice, strong, straight stems; colorful blooms (or foliage); and they’ll last a long time in a vase. Some have scent, but some don’t.

Cutting gardens can be stand-alone beds (or even rows), dedicated solely to plants you intend to cut. They can even be beds dedicated to a single flower, such as zinnia. Those are often grown by gardeners who are growing for commercial purposes.

Most gardeners will incorporate cutting garden plants or areas within their landscape beds to great effect. Then it’s more a matter of garden design and matching a plant to its environment. It’s good to decide your ultimate purpose—lots of flowers for cutting versus some flowers for cutting—so that you plan the cutting bed garden properly.

How to Plant a Traditional Cutting Garden

Planting a traditional cutting garden isn’t very different from preparing any landscape bed but in most cases, you’ll need a site with lots of sun to get the most flowers. Here are some points to keep in mind:

• Do you want to grow lots of flowers for cutting? If yes, you’ll want an “efficient” bed. That doesn’t always translate into a “pretty” bed because its purpose is more utilitarian. Find a good, sunny spot that’s not front and center of your landscape. Along a fencerow can be a great location so it doesn't look like you just made a bunch of rows in your yard!
  
• Decide on your favorite plants that you want to grow. Some great options, in addition to ranunculus, include: sunflowers, cosmos, tulips, alliums, narcissus, gaillardias, asters, sweet peas, phlox, peony, coneflowers—you get the picture.
  
• Since production is more important than garden design, plan the traditional cutting garden bed so that you plant like with like. For instance, a row of zinnias, a row of ranunculus, a row of peonies, a row of daffodils for cutting.
  
• Since the design part comes later as you arrange the flowers, it’s not so critical to design the bed so that it has an overarching design.
  
• Consider if any plants need support, such as peonies. Trellises, cages, or string lattice can work wonders here. It's better to place the supports when you plant the bulbs than to wait until they start growing. That way th plants can just grow up through the supports.
  
• Think about bloom sequence so you have a rotating supply of flowers to cut. Ranunculus are sweater-weather plants; they like cool temperatures, and bloom in spring. Include other plants that bloom in summer and fall in your cutting garden so you have plenty of flowers all season.

How to Plant “Cut-Flower Plots” within Standard Garden Beds

Incorporating a cut-flower into a standard garden/landscape bed is a bit trickier, but nothing you can’t handle. Keep these points in mind:

• What are the existing bed conditions? Sunny? Rich soil? Good drainage? Ranunculus like all these. Match the cutting flower to the bed’s site conditions.
  
• Even though a cutting-garden plant is often a cut-and-come-again type, meaning cutting stimulates more growth, planting extra ranunculus to cover the “holes” left by cutting is a good idea. Then the overall design of the bed isn’t affected by the missing cut-flowers.
  
• Scatter 'cutting plots' throughout the garden beds so that you're not cutting all of the flowers from one side of the bed, leaving it bare.
  
• Think about your overall garden design, especially the color scheme. Since ranunculus come in multiple colors, it’s pretty easy to find a complementary one. But you (probably) don’t want to mix a hot color in a bed of cool colors.

Plants that Play Nice with Ranunculus

Ranunculus are “good neighbors” as they play nicely with other plants. Since their blooming season is early spring, many plants bloom concurrently with them. Some plants that also bloom in spring around the same time are late-blooming tulips and late-blooming narcissus.

There is a vast array of alliums that bloom about the same time or a bit later too. Imagine putting together a bouquet of ranunculus and striking allium blossoms. All kinds of perennial plants can take up the slack once ranunculus have done their thing, including coneflowers, phlox, rudbeckia, and peonies. The options are virtually endless.

What You Need to Know about Growing Ranunculus in Colder Climates

Ranunculus can be grown in colder climates, but you may need to treat them as container plants. It's really up to you.

For those in zone 8 and warmer, plant outdoors in fall.

If you live in a colder zone, you can either plant in the landscape in April-May or start the bulbs indoors in a cool spot (such as the garage) in February. Move them outside when all chance of freezing weather has ended, usually about a month before your last-freeze date.

While spring-planted ranunculus may not be as prolific as fall-planted ones, you’ll still be able to enjoy plenty of their colorful tissue-paper blooms, a special treat in the spring.

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By Michael MacCaskey

Brilliantly colored flowers are 'ranunculus' chief attraction, and they are indeed special. They most often come in multiple layers of delicate, crepe paper--thin petals, looking like an origami masterwork. Ranunculus (R. asiaticus) excel in southern and western gardens, and make terrific container plants everywhere. They also make long-lasting cut flowers. Bulbs are widely available in Fall at retail nurseries in mild-winter climates; in Fall and early spring from mail-order catalogs.

Ranunculus leaves, grass green and vaguely celery-like, grow in a mound 6 to 12 inches across. Flowers on 12- to 18-inch stems emerge in March from fall-planted bulbs, June and July from spring-planted bulbs; they last up to six weeks. On the most common type, the Tecolote strain, flowers are mostly fully double, 3 to 6 inches wide, and available in bicolored picotee, gold, pastel mix, pink, red, rose, salmon, sunset orange, white, and yellow. The less common Bloomingdale strain is shorter, to 10 inches, with pale orange, pink, red, yellow, and white double flowers.

Where and How Ranunculus Grow Best

Broadly speaking, ranunculus are frost-hardy cool-season perennials. They perform best where winters are relatively mild and springs are long and cool. The roots tolerate soil temperatures to 10°F, while growing plants can handle temperatures below 20°F for several hours.

Ranunculus are most popular in the mild-winter regions of the South and West, in states such as California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana (USDA Hardiness Zones 8 through 11), where they grow best. Planted there in October or November, they flower in March.

The clawlike bulbs, more correctly tubers, come in four grades or sizes. The largest, called jumbos, are the ones you should rely upon; they are at least 7 to 8 centimeters (2-3/4 to 3-1/8 inches) in circumference, or about 7/8 inch in diameter. Number one tubers are slightly smaller, 6 to 7 centimeters (2-1/4 to 2-3/4 inches); number twos are 5 to 6 centimeters (2 to 2-1/4 inches); and number threes, which are rare at retail, are 3 to 4 centimeters (1-1/8 to 2-1/4 inches).

Planting Ranunculus In Spring

Bulb size predicts the number of flowers. Each jumbo bulb will produce some 35 cuttable flowers, compared to a fifth as many from a number three bulb. Number ones will make about 20 flowers, number twos a dozen or more. Stick to jumbos for containers and most smaller plantings. Smaller number twos or even threes serve well for mass plantings.

At retail nurseries this fall, you can expect to pay about 50 cents for each jumbo bulb, 25 cents for number twos. Increasingly, nurseries also offer ranunculus in fall or spring as bedding plants in 4-inch pots. While the cost per bulb in pots is greater, this is a good option if you need only a few plants for a container.

Gardeners in zone 7 and north (Richmond and Reno to Minneapolis) can also grow ranunculus, but on a different schedule. In these regions, plant in early spring a week or two before the typical last frost.

Or, plant them in pots indoors in February for transplanting later. Place pots in a south- or west-facing window or under grow lights. Temperatures around 55°F are ideal. In early spring, gradually acclimate plants to outdoors by putting them out for more time each day (bring them in at night). Plant outdoors by mid-April in zones 6 and 7 (mid-May in zones 4 and 5). Spring-planted ranunculus will bloom in June or July.

Planting Ranunculus

Dry and hard when you buy them, tubers soften and plump up after absorbing moisture. You might be advised elsewhere to soak tubers before planting. It's not necessary, and if you happen to leave them in water too long, they'll turn to mush.

Choose a location in full sun and be sure the soil is well drained. The one environment that ranunculus do not tolerate is warm and wet. The cool soil of fall and early spring offers some protection from rotting, but soil that is never soggy gives extra insurance. Plant the tuber's claw pointed end down and 1 to 2 inches deep, less in clay soil. Space jumbos 8 to 12 inches apart (at least one tuber per square foot), number three tubers about 4 inches apart (two or three per square foot).

Planting Ranunculus Seeds

Ranunculus adapt easily to container life, but they do produce a large root system. A 10-inch pot can fit one or two jumbos or three number twos.

Planting Ranunculus Corms

Whether tubers are in the garden or in pots, water thoroughly after planting, and apply a mulch of your choice: bark, coco hulls, and straw all work well. As long as soil retains some moisture, don't water again until you see sprouts, usually within 15 to 20 days.

Companion plants. Because ranunculus are cool-season bloomers, their natural companions include other cool-season flowers such as snapdragon (Antirrhinum), calendula, larkspur (Consolida ambigua), Chinese forget-me-not (Cynoglossum amabile), African daisy (Arctotis), candytuft (Iberis), sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus), toadflax (Linaria), forget-me-not (Myosotis), Iceland poppy (Papaver nudicaule), primrose (Primula), and pansy (Viola). The question is how to combine colors.

Here are two ranunculus color schemes that have proven popular. Interplant pink ranunculus with salmon Iceland poppy and red-purple pansies, and accent with a few yellow and pink English primroses. Another favorite scheme combines salmon ranunculus with blue Chinese forget-me-not.

Ranunculus from seed. If you can locate seed for sale or through a swap, they're definitely worth the effort. Sow in a lightweight, peat-based seed-starting mix in late winter, maintain soil temperature at 50°F, and allow 20 to 30 days for germination. Sow thickly, because the number of seeds that actually grow is low. After germination, maintain seedlings indoors at about 55°F until outdoor planting time. Plants will flower by June.

Planting Ranunculus Flowers

As cut flowers. Beyond their intrinsic beauty, ranunculus flowers have another virtue: they last indoors about 7 days after cutting. And at about a penny-and-a-half per flower, they are very inexpensive. Cut when flowers first show color, in the early morning after they have had the night to recharge themselves with moisture. For an additional day or two of vase life, add any floral preservative to the water.

After the flowers fade. For some lucky gardeners with perfectly drained, cool soil, the tubers can stay in place and be treated like any perennial that comes back year after year. But this is rare. Most gardeners treat ranunculus as annuals, disposing of them after bloom. You could pull and compost plants, or leave them in place to fade away. In most gardens, the tubers will rot in moist summer soils. More ambitious gardeners can save the tubers for replanting next year. Let blooms fade and plants dry out. Lift tubers, cut off tops, and store in a dry, cool place for planting next year.

Planting Ranunculus In Containers

Michael MacCaskey is a former editorial director at National Gardening.

Planting Ranunculus Plants