How to Plant Ranunculus

Plant ranunculus tubers 2 inches deep, 6–8 inches apart, claws pointing down, in full sun and sharp drainage. Fall planting works in mild-winter zones, and everywhere else they go in around your last spring frost.

How to Plant Ranunculus
When to plant
Fall in zones 8–10. In colder zones, store the tubers dry until the danger of hard frost has passed, or start them indoors a few weeks earlier
Depth
2 inches, claws pointing down
Spacing
6–8 inches apart
Sun
Full sun
Water
Medium moisture; moist but never wet
Soil
Sandy loam or other soil with excellent drainage; not heavy clay

Step by step

  1. If your area still gets hard frost, keep the tubers in a dry, airy place until frost has passed.
  2. Choose a spot in full sun with excellent drainage. Ranunculus rot in heavy clay or soil that stays wet, so use a raised bed or container if you need to.
  3. Look at the tuber. It looks like a small bunch of dried claws, and those claws are the roots.
  4. Plant each tuber 2 inches deep with the claws pointing down.
  5. Space them 6–8 inches apart.
  6. Water well once to settle the soil, then keep it just moist, never soggy, while the tubers wake up.
  7. For earlier flowers in a cold climate, start the tubers in pots indoors and move them out once hard frosts are over and before summer heat arrives.

After bloom

Pick or deadhead flowers regularly; each one you remove encourages more. Ranunculus go dormant once the weather heats up and the foliage yellows. To keep the tubers for next year, dig them after the foliage has died back, let them dry, and store them somewhere cool and dry until planting time. For the most reliable show, plant fresh tubers each season.
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