Here at The Branch, we deal with tons of different types of flowers. So, since we can’t possibly learn about all the flowers at once, we focus on one flower a week. At our weekly staff meetings, we take the time to learn how to process and care for our featured flower of the week.  This week, we are focusing on ranunculus. Here is some of the basic information our amazing production assistant, Javier, put together for us:

The name Ranunculus is Latin for “little frog,” the diminutive of rana. Rana refers to many species being found near water, like frogs. Ranunculus is a large genus of approximately 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members include buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots, and lesser celandine. Other species in our region include anemone, aguilegia, cimifuga, clematis, delphinium, helleborus, nigella, thalictrum, trollius, and the ranunculus. Ranunculus bloom from May to August. They prefer cool weather and full sun.

They are large, brilliantly-colored flowers that resemble round globes composed of a myriad of petals with the texture of paper. They have the further distinction of purple-black anthers rising from the blooms center.

They come in a variety of colors such as white, cream, yellow, orange, red, purple, and pink. [Read more…]