Ranunculus asiaticus Butterfly Melissa® - Persian buttercup

Ranunculus Butterfly™ Melissa® is a Persian buttercup of infinite delicacy, sought after for its very soft pink flowering and its long, well-branched stems. Its single, fine, diaphanous flower possesses a very particular grace. This variety brings incredible charm to spring borders, large containers, and cut flower arrangements.

Butterfly™ Melissa® belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. It is derived from Ranunculus asiaticus, the Asian buttercup or Persian buttercup, a slightly hardy perennial with a tuberous claw and summer dormancy. This botanical species is native to the eastern Mediterranean, from the southern Aegean Sea to western and southwestern Iran. It is found in open environments, on stony hillsides, in fallow land, olive groves, seasonally damp then dry lawns, as well as in low Mediterranean scrub vegetation.

The Melissa® cultivar was obtained by the Japanese breeder Aya Engei, creator of the Butterfly™ series, developed for cut flowers. This series is sought after for its long stems, good natural branching, floriferousness, and because its flowers are more airy than those of traditional, very double buttercups. In Melissa®, the flowers open in a very pale, creamy pink with a small, darker central eye. The plant grows quickly and flowers in one season. In the garden, it reaches 50 to 60 cm in height and 20 to 30 cm in width. The deciduous foliage first forms a small basal clump, then develops on the stems. The leaves are medium green, divided, tender, with more or less rounded lobes. The upright, firm stems branch in their upper part and bear several buds and then several flowers. In Melissa®, the flowers are single to semi-double, composed of 5-7 to 12 fine, satiny petals, translucent when backlit. Flowering occurs from April to June, depending on the planting date. The vegetation dries up and disappears in summer; the claws can withstand short spells of approximately -6 °C  in very well-drained soil.
Persian buttercup has been one of the most cultivated florist's plants for centuries. In the Mediterranean basin and in Anjou, the claws have long been the subject of true horticultural expertise.

In the garden, Butterfly™ Melissa® needs companions chosen for their pastel colours. Its shell-toned flowers pair well with Tulip ‘Verona Sunrise’, with its peach, champagne and pink hues, and Daffodil ‘Apple Pie’, white with a salmon-pink cup. Camassia leichtlinii ‘Semiplena’ will offer calm and elegant, tall double cream-white spikes in May-June mingled with the pink umbels of Allium unifolium ‘Eros’. Plant all these bulb in fertile, light and very well-drained soil, retaining a little moisture in spring and early summer.
By lifting the tubers in autumn, before frosts, you can grow ranunculus like a dahlia.