Ranunculus asiaticus Romance Seine® - Persian buttercup

Ranunculus asiaticus Romance™ Seine® is a florist's ranunculus prized for its large, fully double flowers in a soft to powder pink, borne on long stems. This variety has a distinctly romantic style. It stands out for the regularity of its flowers, the delicacy of its colour and the good stem strength. It is a charming flower for spring borders, flowering pots and cut flower arrangements.

This variety belongs to the Ranunculaceae family. The species Ranunculus asiaticus, known as Asian ranunculus, florist's ranunculus, garden ranunculus or Oriental ranunculus, is a tuberous perennial with a summer dormancy. In the wild, the species occurs over a wide area from southeastern Europe to western Asia, including Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Sinai, Iraq, Iran, as well as Egypt and Libya. It is found in open, sunny habitats, often rocky or grassy, on light, well-drained soils subject to dry summers.

'Romance Seine’ is a horticultural variety developed by the Japanese breeder Aya Engei. It belongs to the Romance™ series, valued for the fine size of its flowers, the strength of its stems and its qualities as a cut flower. In a few weeks, the plant forms a compact, upright, dense clump reaching 40 to 60 cm in height when in flower, with a spread of 20 to 30 cm. Its hardiness is moderate: it tolerates frosts down to -5 to -8 °C in very well-drained soil, but dislikes persistent winter wetness. The deciduous leaves appear in a basal tuft. They are bright green, fairly thick, deeply cut, somewhat like that of certain anemones. The flower stems bear large double to fully double flowers, 8 to 14 cm across, depending on growing conditions. The petals are numerous, fine and densely packed on the corolla. The buds open in a fairly deep pink, then the flower takes on shades of soft to powder pink. Flowering occurs from March to May, sometimes into June in cool climates. The roots are fleshy tuberous claws; they enter dormancy as soon as heat arrives.

Long cultivated for ornament, the florist's ranunculus has become, over time, one of the great spring flowers, loved both in the garden and by florists. This Romance™ Seine variety can be planted near the house, in a spring border, in a cut flower patch or in a large pot placed in full sun. You can associate it with the lily-flowering tulip ‘Très Chic’, Triumph tulip ‘Continental’ in a very dark purple, forget-me-not ‘Blue Sylva’ in bright blue and camassia ‘Blue Heaven’ for its sky-blue spikes, slightly later.