What you see in April, is a result of hard work in October & November. Allow me to explain...

The first step is to order the ranunculus corms,which is the same thing as a bulb. 

- A bulb is the thing you plant in the ground (not a seed)and the plant grows out of the bulb. 

The ordering process is usually about the time we're finishing up the ranunculus the past Spring. This means we need to know what colors we want to order again a whole year on ahead!

- A good idea is to order lots of pink! It plays nicely with most other colors.

The first thing to do before ranunculus ever get planted (usually in October or March, if you wait until Spring if you happen to live in Zone 5 or lower) is to get them soaked in water for a few hours! 

- Yes, that's ranunculus corms/bulbs in the above picture on the left! 

After the bulbs have been soaking in their jacuzzi, they get buried in a bit of potting soil so they can start growing roots. This means they get a jumpstart before they're planted out into the gardens. 

-Picture above right , is how the corms look after they've sprouted roots. All ready for the real world!

The important part of planting ranunculus is making sure they get the optimal growing conditions they need! If you live in my zone (6b) you're welcome to follow the steps I give here.Planting too early means that they'll get too big before winter comes, and you definitely don't want that. Been there, done that.

There are 2 things ranunculus thrives on...

- Water (and plenty of it when they're busy growing flowers!)

- Enough of winter covers (if you're fall planting)

- Plus a bit of fertilizer so they can keep pumping those big blooms out

I like to say that they're not really that complicated. It feels like a reward every spring to see those first buds, then wait impatiently until I can cut them with my pink snips.

And just in case you were wondering, this is what healthy ranunculus should look like when you peek under the winter covers. 

-Curious which color blooms first? Usually red or white is first to bloom, at least in my experience. 

The worst enemies of ranunculus are....

Heat...  Voles...  Fungus...  Aphids...  Drought...  and little feet. The last one is easily remedied. There are others I didn't mention, but these are ones I've worked with in the past and expect to meet again in the future.

Want to see some funny ranunculus? Read this post mentioned below...

Ranunculus make up the bulk of our Spring offerings around here at Backyard Blooms by Janelle. We don't mind, as ranunuculus last quite awhile in the vase- which means longer time on your windowsill for you. 

They also make the prettiest bouquets on Mother's Day, which is around the time we've usually had a splendid abundance of these ranuncs. Can you tell Spring is now my favorite season?