How to Successfully Grow

Ranunculus + Anemones

Steps for Planting

Follow this guide to grow gorgeous spring blooms!
Soak + Dip

Soak + Dip

Soaking corms to presprout: Leave a trickle of water running or use an aerator to oxygenate water during soaking. We use Oxidate as our preplant dip which is an agricultural hydrogen peroxide that kills pathogens.

Ranunculus

To presprout ranunculus: Soak ranunculus corms 4 hours and dip in a disinfecting solution to kill any disease.
Anemones

Anemones

To presprout anemones: Soak anemone corms 8 hours and dip in a disinfecting solution before potting.
Planting

Planting

After soaking, pot up your corms into 72 cell trays. Do not overwater while in the trays or the corms will rot. Be sure to let them dry out between watering. We plant our corms out before a lot of green growth on it. You want the roots growing.

Soaked v. Dormant

Once you soak your corms they will be ready for planting.
Soaked
Dormant

FAQ's

Growing Ranunculus + Anemones the SMFF Way

Ranunculus like mild, cool weather. Depending on where you are, you can create the ideal environment for your corms by starting them in the fall or wait until later in the winter/early spring. Here in Central Ohio (Zone 6a), we start them in the fall in mid-October for transplant to an unheated house.

If you’re in our same zone or colder and don’t have a greenhouse to transplant in, wait until late winter/early spring to start the corms to plant outside. If you’re in a warmer zone with mild winters, your corms can be planted with or without greenhouse protection.

In all scenarios, you may still need frost cloth for protection on colder nights. We sprout our ranunculus in a minimally heated greenhouse, but you could always try sprouting them in an unheated greenhouse, a basement, or another cool area in your house.

Tips + Tricks: If you aren't getting any growth, you could try moving them where it is warmer or placing the flats on a heat mat. You just don't want them too warm or too wet after they have been soaked; you do not want to keep the soil wet while you are waiting for them to sprout.

Anemone: Anemones produce more stems per plant than ranunculus. Our plants generally produce continuously until heat renders them dormant, which means we can plant fewer successions of anemones than we do ranunculus, and still get a lot of stems. We prefer the varieties that produce larger flowers, which means sometimes they produce fewer stems per plant. We plant 3 successions of anemones starting in the late fall for our heated and unheated tunnels.

Ranunculus: We plant ranunculus in both minimally heated and unheated high tunnels. Doing this in conjunction with several planting successions means we have ranunculus blooming over the span of 3 months. Ranunculus yields 5 stems per plant on average.

The most common pests and diseases we see when dealing with anemones and ranunculus are aphids and powdery mildew. Scouting for these problems weekly is a must to keep plants happy and healthy for maximum production. The good news is that you can prevent serious infestation by being vigilant and catching any issues before they become a full-blown problem. There are many products out there to help combat these pests and diseases, both organic and not, so we recommend researching those options to find what will work best with your methods.

If you just received your corms and they have a white/gray/blue fuzz on the crown, this is completely normal. It is not mold, but a part of the corm. This will not affect the success rate of your corms in any way and does not need to be wiped off or treated before soaking. They are still viable corms and will produce gorgeous plants come spring.

Our Fall Bulb Sale is online only.

Our Fall Bulbs ship starting in October and we will continue shipping orders as they come in until inventory runs out in the spring.  If you order in August when the bulbs launch, they will be shipped in October.  If you place your order after October, it will ship within 3-5 business days. You will receive a tracking number once your box is packed and ready to go.

Some quantities may be limited. Please note if you have an item in your cart, it is not reserved until you complete the checkout process and receive a confirmation email and order number. 

Once your order is confirmed, we are unable to add items. Submit a new order for any additional items you would like to purchase from our Fall Bulb Sale.

All sales are final unless your order arrives damaged or incorrect. With so many variables at play once the bulbs leave our farm, it is impossible for us to guarantee their success in your garden.

Inspect your order carefully when it arrives for any damage and verify that what you’ve received matches what you ordered. Let us know of any issues within 2 weeks by sending us an email with your First + Last Name and your Order # in the subject line. We will send you a replacement for the product or issue a merchandise credit in the event a replacement is not available. Shipping charges are nonrefundable.