Ranunculus
Ranunculus asiaticus
📖 About this plant
Often called the ‘rose of spring,’ ranunculus produces breathtaking, multi-layered, rose-like flowers in a stunning palette of colors including rich red, orange, pink, yellow, cream, and white. The tissue-paper-thin petals create impossibly perfect, crepe-paper-like blooms. Each tuber can produce dozens of flowers over a long season. A premium cut flower prized by florists for its exquisite beauty and long vase life.
🧑🌾 Care requirements
Full sun (6+ hrs)
Every 2-3 days
Moderate (50-65%)
10-20°C
Well-draining, sandy or loamy, slightly acidic soil enriched with compost; excellent for containers with free-draining mix; avoid heavy wet soils
Balanced liquid fertilizer every 2 weeks during the growing and flowering period; controlled-release granular at planting
🌐 Common Names
📋 Plant facts
- 🌍 Origin
- Eastern Mediterranean — Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, and the Near East; widely cultivated since Renaissance times
- 📏 Max height
- 20-45 cm
- 📐 Spread
- 15-20 cm
- 🕰️ Bloom time
- Spring
- 🎨 Bloom color
- Pink, Red, Yellow, Orange, White
- 🍃 Foliage color
- Green
- ⏳ Lifespan
- Perennial
- 📈 Growth rate
- Moderate
- ☠️ Toxicity
- TOXIC — contains ranunculin, which converts to protoanemonin when plant tissue is damaged; causes severe burning and blistering of the mouth and gastrointestinal tract if ingested; skin contact with sap can cause dermatitis; toxic to livestock
- 🌱 Propagation
- Soaking claw-like tuberous roots in lukewarm water for 2-4 hours before planting; division of tuber clusters in autumn
🛡️ Health & Safety
TOXIC — contains ranunculin, which converts to protoanemonin when plant tissue is damaged; causes severe burning and blistering of the mouth and gastrointestinal tract if ingested; skin contact with sap can cause dermatitis; toxic to livestock
Common issues
- Crown rot from overwatering
- Powdery mildew
- Poor tuber development in hot conditions
💡 Care tips
- Layered paper-thin petals create the most perfect rosette flowers
- Plant claw-like tubers in fall for spring blooms
- Cool-season flower that struggles in hot climates
- Spectacular cut flower that rivals roses in beauty
