Ranunculus – Vanilla Cream corms
This is one of the two new ranunculus varieties we added this year! The flowers are large with long petals, and the color is so soft. If your color scheme is soft and pastel the vanilla cream flowers are a perfect addition! We have grown these flowers in our greenhouse after planting them in the autumn, and tried to grow them in spring and planted them in the field. The spring-started plants were growing in partial shade (shade in the morning). In both places, the plants flowered without much care. This variety seemed to be able to withstand some warmer days, even in the greenhouse!

After your purchase, you can choose to join our ranunculus grow-along. Together we will grow our ranuncs step-by-step with detailed videos and pictures. Via an e-mail, you can sign up for free.

When to plant
Autumn start: You can start your ranunculus in the Autumn. Based on your location or climate you can start them in a greenhouse or cold frame in seed trays, or, if your winters are mild pre-sprout them and plant them out in the garden. Plant out in a greenhouse or low tunnel in late January to flower in March if your climate is cold (like The Netherlands). Or plant outdoors but protected from heavy rain around the end of February. If the temperature drops below -6 C. you will have to protect the plants with horticultural fleece. If your climate has dry and mild winters you won’t have to protect plants.

Late winter start: If your climate is cold and wet, like ours (The Netherlands) and you don’t have a greenhouse or don’t like the hassle in the winter to care for all the plants then this is the best moment for you. Plant in late winter (beginning of February) in a greenhouse, small cold frame, or small plastic propagator in seed trays. If you don’t have any of those, don’t worry. You can still grow ranunculus indoors in a cool place. After your plants are of sufficient size and the weather is getting milder you can plant your ranunculus in the garden. for our climate, this is around the end of March/early April. Your plants will start to flower in May.

Keep in mind that ranunculus the ranunculus we offer are cut flower varieties that will go into dormancy when the temperatures rise and summer arrives. Therefore you can not start your combs too late in spring, or, if your spring is warmer, later than in the autumn or beginning of the winter. This is a cool weather variety of ranunculus.

The rule of thumb is to space them about 20 to 25 cm apart. I plant 4 plants next to each other on a 75 cm flower bed with 4 to 5 per 1-meter bed length.

Package contains: 10 bulbs or corms of Vanilla cream ranunculus
good for about 50 flower stems
Corm size: large

Cut Flower
Cut flower ranunculus are very strong in the vase. If you keep the water clean and flowers away from the heating and direct sunlight, they can stand up to 10 days in the vase! Pick flowers when the buds are soft, like marshmallows. They might look small at first but as soon as the flowers open you will be amazed by all the soft, silk layers of petals. 

Advice
Choose the moment you have to start ranunculus Lemon based on your climate and desired moment of blooming. 

If you live in The Netherlands or similar climate:
If you have a cold frame or a greenhouse you can plant the tubers in the fall and late winter. You can also make a low-budget cold frame. If you don’t have a greenhouse or don’t want to be busy watching your plants all winter, you can plant them in late winter (early February). After 3 months of development, depending on the weather, your ranuncs will flower for 6 to 10 weeks. If you’re are a big fan of them you could plant them in two batches to extend their blooming season.

Start the bulbs or corms by soaking them in water for around 3 hours. after you have soaked the bulbs you will have to keep them frost-free for two weeks until you see roots and shoots emerging from the crown.

The soil should not be waterlogged. The bulb and roots will start rotting if your soil is not free draining. You can prevent this by adding potting soil, or compost mixed with playing sand to raise your garden beds. If your beds are still too low or you are on very heavy clay you can create some raised beds with wood.

When the temperatures begin to rise (25+ C.), the plants will go into dormancy. By shading the plants you can extend the flowering period a little.

ranunculus can also be grown in pots. Plant a maximum of 3 plants in a 15-liter size pot. Do give them regular plant nutrition and start with fresh potting soil. Make sure that the soil does not dry out.