Sunday, February 22, 2009

Promises of Buttercups

Creeping buttercup, ranunculus repens, is one of my favorite groundcovers. It's easy to grow and spreads well by runners, forming a glossy, deep green mat. In spring hundreds of butter yellow buttons cover the plants, followed by occasional blooms the rest of the summer.
I received a start from a friend when we first moved here, and it thrived in my sunny yard. I passed starts on to a coworker who also loved it. Creeping buttercup spread madly in her yard--a shaded plot, I might add.
In my own yard, it was eradicated during the 2002 relandscaping project. My coworker was kind enough to give me another start last year, which I tucked in under my rugosa rose hybrid, "Wildberry Breeze."
Now that's an eye-popping combo: rich pink, papery rose petals; leathery dark green wrinkled rose leaves; shiny dark ranunculus leaf mat; and electric yellow buttercup buttons. So much color and texture to experience all in one small spot. It's wonderful.
Whenever the snow melts off, I see tiny new ranunculus leaves poking up out of the wet mulch beneath the roses: harbingers of spring, promises of buttercups. Ranunculus Repens photo by JulenaJo.

2 comments:

  1. you are giving me hope, your efforts to beautify this world tells me that all has not gone wrong, this world is still a beautiful place to live, perhaps better than the promised heaven. You the women are the saviours of mankind.

    Thank you

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  2. It took me a couple of years to figure out what this flower was. It just appeared one day and I couldn't figure out whether it was a weed to get rid of or a flower to encourage. One of my gardening friends called it "Grandmother's buttons". Cute name, isn't it?

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