Ficaria verna aurantiaca Group
Lesser celandine, Pilewort
Also known as Ranunculus ficaria f. aurantiacus, Ranunculus ficaria 'Cupreus'
- Height × spread
- 0.05m × 0.2m
- Position
- Part shade
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Flowers
- Spring
Availability
Please ask in store about availability
Many plants are seasonal. Call 01234 567890 to check current stock.
About this plant
This is a richly coloured form of the lesser celandine. It has bright orange-yellow flowers with shiny petals. The orange tones are copper tinted on the underside of the petal giving the closed, or just-opening flower a burnished effect. Once open, the inner petal fades to cream-yellow tones, though the large yellow flower heart retains its colour so that a number of different hues are visible at one time. The foliage is dark-green, heart-shaped and lustrous. It flowers during March and April and is dormant in summer.
- Flower colour
- Orange
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Variegated
- No
- Scent
- No
- Shape
- Bell
- Height
- 0.05m
- Spread
- 0.2m
- Season of interest
- Spring
- Flowers in
- Spring
- Evergreen
- Deciduous
- Sun or shade
- Likes part shade, likes light shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam (normal)
- Soil pH
- All types
- Drainage
- Moisture retentive soil, Damp and wet soil
- Hardiness
- Colder than -20C (RHS H7)
- Borders & containers
- Borders
- Use for
- Bee attraction
- Hazards
- No
Spring
Spring-Autumn · Outdoors
Water to keep the soil moist
For best results, this plant needs soil that is always moist. Water deeply and regularly as soon as soil appears dry. Even for established plants in the ground, a dry week can cause problems with some soils. Check plants in pots more often, especially in hot weather. Or install an automatic irrigation system which will do the hard work for you, even when you are away on holiday.
Without regular watering some plants never fully regain their beauty.
Spring - early-mid · Planting
Divide when too large
The plant can be divided if it becomes too large or another plant is required. This may involve physically dividing the clump in two, removing offsets or small bulbs or dividing rhizomes. The new plants can be grown in pots or planted in the ground.
Summer
Summer - early · Outdoors
Feed a general fertiliser
Where plants have moderate needs for nutrients, they can simply be given a general feed, fairly early in the growth season so that the growth has plenty of time to harden off before the cold weather.
Give plants a general boost with the application of a general purpose fertiliser which is spread around the root area of the plant, with amounts as directed on the feed label.
Found in
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