Ranunculus
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Discoveries, Flowers | 22 comments
Photo: Pink and white Ranunculus
This afternoon I fell in love.
I was in Waitrose with my mother. Standing beside the flower stand. I don’t buy flowers for the cottage anymore but my mum often buys me flowers when we go shopping.
“Why, these are beautiful.”
She picked up some soft yet elegant flowers that we’d never seen before. We examined the label – Ranunculus. Such a clumsy name for an exquisite flower. Apparently it comes from the Latin and means little frog. As both the amphibian and plant enjoy a little damp.
I’ve spent the evening getting acquainted with Ranunculus. The corms can be planted in the autumn for spring flowering and in the spring for summer flowering. They prefer a sunny spot but not too dry. Perfect.
However I couldn’t find a strain with the different pinks of my posy. I can buy white or pink or some rather expensive pink and white tinged with purple. There is a brightly coloured mixed strain available too. These are much cheaper and Dobies sells these ranunculus bulbs.
So instead of an Easter egg this year, I’m investing in pink and white Ranunculus. A real boudoir flower that will add a lot of charm to the main herbaceous border. I’m hoping that the pink and white flowers will cross fertilise. If I raised their seed in the cold frame over winter I might eventually have flowers that range from white to pink.
Leave a reply
Hi Fiona,
These are rather spectacular flowers, I shall look out for them to try, would love to have bluebells,and whitebells growing in my garden, another addition to my list.
Thanks for the great tip (boiling water), never heard of that to make cut flowers last longer, flowers evoke memories and bring beauty to dismal days, well worth investing in.
Well done you, your kitchen looks bright and cheerful, how on earth do you find the time and energy? I’m still in the process of making up ‘rich tomato sauce’ to freeze, your recipie of course.Thankyou for sharing with us.
Much love to all lv Odelle X