Planting ranunculus

​Like anemones, ranunculus give you a great bang for your buck.  They’re relatively inexpensive to buy.  You can get as many as 25 ranunculus corms for only a few dollars.  One corm also yields a few flowers, unlike a lot of other spring bulbs.  Ranunculus grow on long stems and make great cut flowers, whether in a bouquet of their own or mixed with other flowers in arrangements.  This year I’m growing 100 ranunculus (mixed colours), which I purchased from the New Zealand mail order company Bulbs Direct.  I hope they give us a beautiful display in spring.
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As with tulips, hyacinth and anemones, ranunculus thrive in cooler climates.  If you live in a region with mild winters, it is still possible to grow ranunculus and for them to flower well.  All that is required is a bit of care.  I have written these growing tips with warmer conditions in mind, so if you live in an area with cold conditions, bear in mind that it might not be necessary to pre-chill your ranunculus corms.

• In order to flower well, I strongly recommend chilling ranunculus for 5-6 weeks prior to planting.  You can do this in your fridge or if you’re lucky like me, your mail order company will kindly do this for you (thanks Bulbs Direct, who chilled my bulbs during lockdown!)
• Keep fruit and veggies out of your fridge while chilling your ranunculus corms as they emit ethylene gas, which destroys bud formation
• If you must store fruit and veggies in your fridge, you can purchase some ethylene absorbing sachets which you can pop into the paper bags with your bulbs to keep them safe
• Don’t plant your ranunculus corms too early.  I wait until towards the end of May before planting mine, when conditions are cooler.  Ranunculus thrive in cooler weather
• You can stagger planting at fortnightly intervals to give a continuous display of flowers
• Soak corms for around 2 hours in tepid water prior to planting to “wake them up” and aid germination
• Ranunculus look stunning planted en masse in the ground
• Choose a sunny, well-draining site
• Prepare the ground well prior to planting.  Mix in lots of compost, sheep pellets and general garden fertiliser beforehand
• For best results, mix some granular bulb fertiliser into the ground as well, prior to planting
• Give ranunculus corms a wide berth, bearing in mind that several flowers will spring up from one corm.  I try to plant corms at least 10 cm apart
• Plant corms around 5 cm deep
• Plant ranunculus with the claws facing downwards
• Water well after planting
• As they grow, you may like to liquid feed your ranunculus with a water soluble plant food such as Thrive, or a seaweed tonic such as Seasol if you’re gardening organically
• After they have finished flowering, allow the foliage to die down before lifting corms.  You can either throw them away and start with new corms next season (see below) or store them over summer for re-planting in autumn.  Don’t forget to chill them again, otherwise they won’t flower well if you live in a warm climate
• In my experience as a gardener, ranunculus are best treated as an annual, so for the best and strongest flowers, start with fresh corms every season