Ranunculus asiaticus Crown Giverny® - Persian buttercup

Ranunculus asiaticus Crown Giverny® is an original and refined florist's ranunculus. Its white flower is topped with a surprising green crown like a tuft of leaves. It looks fresher than other Crown varieties with white petals finely touched with violet. This floriferous spring variety is great for cutting to create very different, elaborate bouquets.

This variety belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. The botanical species Ranunculus asiaticus is also known as the florist's ranunculus and Asiatic ranunculus. It is a tuberous perennial with low hardiness, often grown as an annual in our climates. The wild form can be found in the eastern Mediterranean and as far as western and south-western Iran. These are regions where winters are mild and summers are dry, subject to a Mediterranean-type climate. In our humid and cool climates, horticultural varieties can be grown like gladioli: lift the bulbs at the end of the season, store cool and dry, then replant in late winter or spring, protect from frost.

Crown Giverny® is a cultivar belonging to the Romance™/Crown line, resulting from the work of Japanese breeder Aya Engei. Crown ranunculus are distinguished by a green outgrowth at the top of the flower, resembling a small crown. Crown Giverny® is a particularly floriferous variety, with good stem length. In a few weeks, the plant forms an upright clump, quite dense at the base. In the ground, it reaches 50 cm in height when in flower. In a pot, it remains slightly shorter. Its foliage disappears after flowering when the plant enters dormancy. The leaves are cut, bright to medium green, and more or less divided. The root system consists of small, claw-shaped tubers, sensitive to stagnant moisture and frost. It flowers from April to May in the garden, sometimes until June in cool climates. The flowers are double, composed of numerous white to ivory petals with a mauve sheen, with a few discreet violet streaks. The green crown resembles a tuft of small, dishevelled apple-green leaves. The whole measures 7 to 12 cm in diameter on plants grown in the garden, up to 15 cm in professional production.

Plant Asiatic ranunculus in beds, borders and even in pots on a terrace. Crown Giverny® looks almost as much like foliage as a flower. In a vase, it can be used to break up a floral arrangement; it is not a filler flower, but it gives a very distinctive touch to bouquets. It pairs well with columbine 'Green Apples', parrot tulip 'Super Parrot', a white lily-flowered tulip like 'White Triumphator' and the common peony 'Alba Plena'.