Mixed Ranunculus

These rose-shaped blooms fit all over the garden! Thanks to their short stature, ranunculus flowers make excellent border plants or container flowers.

Ranunculus will grow to just 12 to 24 inches tall. Ranunculus prefer fully sunny locations, and require well-drained soil. Be sure not to site these flowers in a location where water tends to pool. You can space your ranunculus corms 6 to 8 inches apart.

Keep in mind that ranunculus is only winter-hardy in Zones 8 and above. That cold-hardiness factor means that, if your area regularly receives very cold winters, you'll need to overwinter your ranunculus. There are two ways to store non-cold-hardy bulbs over winter. You can lift the bulbs themselves and store them in a cool, dark location such as a garage, shed, or basement. Or, you can use containers for your ranunculus and store the whole container inside. Many gardeners find the container option to be an elegant solution for overwintering, and using a container may let you start your bulbs indoors before your final frost date.

Ranunculus plants bloom continuously, so you'll see multiple flowers from a single bulb. You can expect your ranunculus to bloom for six to eight weeks, and each flower is exceptionally long-lasting. These flowers also last well in a vase.

You do not need to do anything other than set your ranunculus bulbs in the ground-they'll happily sprout on their own-but some gardeners pre-sprout ranunculus for quicker blooms. Pre-sprouting involves soaking the corms, and basically allows the plant to get a head-start on the season.

Your ranunculus corms will arrive in a dormant state, so pre-sprouting them gives them a chance to wake up before they normally would through regular planting. To pre-sprout, soak the corms in a bucket of room-temperature water for about four hours. Don't let the water get mucky--replace the water in your bucket once per hour, or run a slow stream of water over your corms. When you remove the corms, you'll find that some of them have plumped up a bit.

Next, lay your soaked corms on a tray of soil. You can use a planting tray, or even something like a cookie sheet, filled with light, fast-drying growing mix. Place the tray in an unheated basement or another area where the plants can remain in a cool, dark location. Water infrequently, but keep the soil slightly moist.

After about two weeks, you'll notice that your ranunculus have developed roots and short sprouts. Now, they're ready to plant! Your ranunculus corms can go into the soil at a depth of about two inches. The sprouts will quickly poke through that soil, and you'll see faster flowers than if the corms were directly sown.

Use a soaker hose to water your ranunculus, or water at the base. Don't hit the leaves or flowers with water, and they'll last a bit longer. Ranunculus plants don't like to have continuously wet roots either, so water them deeply and infrequently. During dry spells, consider watering a full inch or two, just once per week. If the soil becomes very dry, go ahead and re-up the watering. In general, you should allow just the top inch or so of soil to dry out between waterings.