How to Grow Ranunculus
- kmbarry24
- Mar 6
- 2 min read
If you’ve ever seen a bouquet of ranunculus, you know why people fall in love with them. Their layers of delicate petals look almost like roses, and they bloom in some of the most beautiful and bright colors of spring when we all are craving flowers.
So let’s dig into how to grow these spring divas! Ranunculus actually grow very well in the Mills River area when planted at the right time.
Ranunculus thrive in cool weather, which makes them perfect for early spring blooms in our region. Most people who grow ranunculus and don’t have success are growing at the wrong times. For the average gardener right now (mid March) is the ideal time to plant out healthy ranunculus plant starts.
You may need to protect them during hard freezes, but they generally tolerate cold better than most people expect. And by mid March we typically only get a few light freezes and won’t need any protection. But if we do get in the low twenties throwing a blanket over them will easily protect them.
When planting at this time of year you can expect blooms starting mid to late April and get about 6 weeks of color. The ranunculus don’t like hot weather so when we get consistently in the 80s they do start to slow down.
How to Grow Ranunculus
Plant 6 inches apart
Well draining soil (Ranunculus hate sitting in soggy soil)
Full sun (afternoon shade during hotter days)
Consistent watering when soil dries out
Each plant produces multiple stems, and regular harvesting encourages more blooms.
Are they perennials? Technically yes but most of the time once they go dormant in the summer (they’ll turn yellow then completely die back) the roots frequently rot during our summers. If they don’t rot they will start sprouting back up naturally in October. But then you have to baby them anytime the temperatures get super cold, all winter long. So the best plan is to treat them as annuals. I’ll do a future blog about how you can save the roots!
Ready to plant? Grab a ranunculus box to plant now! You won’t be upset when these bright blooms start bursting into color in
a few weeks!!
Comments