Spring Vs Fall? When to plant your Anemone and Ranunculus

Spring or Fall? When to plant Anemone and Ranunculus

Short answer:

Zone 6 and below plant in Spring

Zone 8 and above plant in Fall

Zone 7…plant in both

For Spring planting; winter sprouting is essential. 

Fall or Spring the secret to maximizing your bloom abundance is location, location, location!

Here’s the deal…

• Ranunculus and Anemone are hardy down to 25° soil temperatures. 
• They sprout at 50° soil temp. They need 90 days of growth to bloom. 
• They go dormant at 70° soil temperature

Benefit of Fall planting. 

• Minimize effort sprouting
• Earlier Bloom

Downside

• Lots to do in the fall garden already. 
• Obsessive weather watching and worry. Even with Frost protection.

Benefit of Winter Sprouting, Spring planting

• What else are you doing in January-February? 
• Healthy established transplants can bloom for a long time.

Downside

• Getting motivated and your indoor sprouting space organized. 
• If your sprouts fail there is no time for a back up plan. 
• A warm spring will cut bloom time down.

Here at HHF in zone 7 we do both Fall planting and Winter sprouting/Spring planting. 

If you live in an area that rarely has evenings below 20° your anemone and ranunculus will likely over winter. We love a soil thermometer and think everyone should have one😘

Location! These babies don’t like it too warm, too wet or too cold. Fall planted anemone and ranunculus go into the sunny side of our garden with really good drainage. A protected area near hedgerows that gets lots of South East morning sun is always our pick for fall planting. Our spring planted corms go on the North West side. All spring they will still get full sun but remain cooler. These north side blooms can continue all through spring. The south side corms finish earlier and we get that spot ready for Dahlias!

Cheers