R

KEY

*                Plants with nectar- and/or pollen-rich flowers for insects.

(S)             Plants of which seed is either currently available or expected in 2008 (@ £2.70/pack)

Click on plant names in green for photos.  All photos are the copyright of Rosemary Castle. 

Prices include first class postage and packing within the UK as at 1 January 2008.

RANUNCULUS   BUTTERCUPS/LESSER CELANDINE

Ranunculus acris*.  Meadow Buttercup.  Tall, clump-forming buttercup. The plants will flower repeatedly with feeding and cutting back or removal of the old flowering stems. For ordinary to damp soil.

Ranunculus acris ‘Stevenii’*

An exceptionally tall and vigorous form of meadow buttercup with romping rhizomes.  The largish flowers often have more than five prettily overlapping petals.  £5.00

Ranunculus acris 'Cricket'* (S)

A variegated form of meadow buttercup: the leaves are intricately streaked and mottled with yellow-green, the colour being brightest and most effective in winter and spring.  In summer the variegation is greener and more subtle.  Yellow flowers May-July and usually flowers again if cut down. Some seedlings will be true.  £5.00

Ranunculus ficaria*. Lesser Celandine.  Lesser celandines come into leaf in winter and are valuable foliage plants in the first half of the year (by June the top growth has died back to the tubers below ground).  They are very easy to please and look attractive in pots where they tend to produce leaves even earlier, often in autumn. The golden yellow flowers in March and April are a good early source of nectar and pollen for insects. Plants multiply by seed and/or tubers. Ornamental and unusual cultivars abound.

Ranunculus ficaria var, albus*

An ivory-flowered lesser celandine from our lane.  The leaves have the usual paler markings and purple streak.  £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria ‘Brambling’*

A striking lesser celandine from Surrey with triangular leaves, silver-grey over green, strongly marked with purple-brown both in the centre and at the margin.  Sometimes individual leaves are also shaded brownish overall.  Small yellow flowers.  £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria ssp. bulbilifer 'Chedglow'*

A favourite lesser celandine with large and distinctive shield-shaped leaves that lie flat on the ground.  They are light green with a large, pale milky overlay spreading from the centre, with or without a faint reddish-purple mark. Small starry yellow flowers. From Martin Barber. £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria ‘Dappled Grey’*

A lesser celandine with very pale, grey-green triangular leaves with pale silver-grey markings, with or without a faint purple stripe.  The elegant yellow flowers have long, slim petals.  Super with dark-leaved forms and a splendid contrast with 'Tubby' (below).  £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria 'Green Petal'

A curious lesser celandine with double flowers that start as tight green rosettes, gradually opening into an interesting muddle of green 'petals' with odd streaks of yellow.  Neatly triangular leaves with thin paler markings.  £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria ‘Suffusion’*

A lesser celandine with rounded, subtly marked, deep green leaves which have a dusky central suffusion.  Godd-sized yellow flowers.  From Martin Barber.  £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria 'Tubby'* - NEW

When mature, this is an imposing lesser celandine with substantial blue-green leaves marked with grey-green and splashed purple in the centres.  The golden yellow flowers have fat, rounded petals and are bronze on the reverse.  My stock plant, growing outside in a pot, comes into leaf very early: last year it was showing leaves by 23 September and had its first flower half-open on a sunny 28 December 2006!   £4.50

Ranunculus ficaria 'Undercurrent'*

An intriguing variegated form of lesser celandine: the green leaves, which are marked with silver-grey and have a slender purple central streak, are also intricately marbled and mottled with a creamy pale variegation. The flowers are single, with purplish-brown backs and the yellow petals, viewed close up, have a curiously scratched appearance - presumably a floral expression of this particular variegation.  A nicer plant than it sounds. £4.50

Ranunculus repens*.  Creeping buttercup.  Below is a wonderful collection of ornamental and unusual creeping buttercups, happy in sun or shade spreading between stones or paving, in lawns, meadows and just about anywhere that is not too hot and dry. Even wet places suit them. They can be grown in pots, but look untidy after flowering in their bid to escape.  Most of the following cultivars (not the fully double flowered ones) serve a wide range of insects with nectar and pollen in May and June and sometimes later. 

Ranunculus repens 'Broken Egg'*

A quaint form of creeping buttercup with variegated flowers, the petals being white variably streaked with rich yellow, like a broken fried egg. Though slightly smaller than usual they are quite effective, especially in shade. A lower-growing, more slender plant than most. £4.50

Ranunculus repens 'Cat's Eyes'*

A creeping buttercup with striking, deep chocolate brown leaves with contrasting paler green markings.  The foliage is darkest and best in winter and spring.  Summer foliage will be greener.  Usual yellow flowers. £4.50

Ranunculus repens 'Dinah Myte'*

A  volatile form of creeping buttercup in which the foliage is variously streaked, splashed and mottled in pure white and shades of green from very pale to dark. The variegation is surprisingly variable but nevertheless stable.  Light yellow flowers. Many seedlings will be variegated, but I’m not sure about their stability.  £4.50

Ranunculus repens ‘Gloria Spale’* 

A pale yellow flowered form of creeping buttercup, lovely in grass or anywhere near blue germander speedwell.  Normal foliage and habit.  £4.50

Ranunculus repens ‘In Vein’*

A reticulated form of creeping buttercup, the leaf veins being noticeably pale in winter and spring. Quite effective in season. £4.50

Ranunculus repens ‘Joe’s Golden’*

A fine yellow-leaved form of creeping buttercup found by Joe Sharman.  The leaf colour is particularly bright in spring and early summer.  True from seed.  £4.50

Ranunculus repens 'Nearly Orange'*

Perhaps not quite an orange-flowered creeping buttercup, but well on the way.  £4.50

Ranunculus repens var. pleniflorus

Vigorous form of creeping buttercup with tightly double, golden-yellow flowers tinted green in the centres that are prolific and very long-lasting (Flowers have been noted in late October.)  £4.50

Ranunculus repens  semi-double*

A form of creeping buttercup with quite large flowers often having ten or more wavy-edged petals.  A charming, vigorous form which in good conditions produces crops of flowers from spring to autumn. £4.50

Ranunculus repens ‘Time Bomb’* 

This fascinating form of creeping buttercup adopts an intense streaked and mottled variegation of pure white and grey-green during its flowering season.  Even the flowers are variegated in combinations of matt and glossy yellow, a phenomenon which may distort the petals.  Plants look completely normal the rest of the year. £4.50

Ranunculus repens ‘Timothy Clark’.   A tall-growing, sturdy form of creeping buttercup with tightly double flowers and substantial, shiny leaves. Seems almost reluctant to creep. £5.00

RUMEX    DOCKS AND SORRELS  

Rumex acetosa ssp. acetosa 'Saucy' (S)

A very ornamental variegated form of common sorrel in which the foliage is streaked, marbled and finely spotted with a mixture of cream, pale green and white and is richly suffused with coral pink when young.  Very occasionally produces green shoots.  A female plant. A proportion of seedlings will be true.  Cut it back for the best leaves and if you don’t want it to flower and seed itself.  The sharp tasting leaves make a colourful addition to salads.  Found in Pembrokeshire.  Common sorrel is a larval foodplant of that bossy little butterfly, the Small Copper.  £4.50