Blackthorn Nursery

[mark smyth]

Does anyone live near the Blackthorn Nursery in Hampshire? They have two more open weekends before they close. March 7th & 8th and 21st & 22nd.

I've been told they have Ranunculus asiaticus for sale.

Can you contact me privately

[Martin Baxendale]

Mark, where did you get the opening dates? I'd like to confirm opening times. I might be down that way. They used to sell single-flowered Ranunculus asiaticus, reds, whites and yellows.

[mark smyth]

Martin the have a listing on the internet. Yes they have all colours of R. asiaticus and a R. asiaticus x R. ?. He also has a Hepatica noblis x yamatutai fl pl called 'The Bride'

[Hans A.]

Hello Mark,
could not find any list of them in internet - do you know if they mail orders?
I was glad to obtain some seeds of the red Ranunculus asiaticus form of Jim Archibald - but the other colours also would be fine.

[Martin Baxendale]

Try searching on Google for Blackthorn Nursery. There's a gardening info website that has them listed. I had to use Google to find it. They don't do mail order.

[Tony Willis]

couple of pics to show them.Last posting for a couple of weeks as I am of to Houston tomorrow

[Martin Baxendale]

couple of pics to show them.Last posting for a couple of weeks as I am of to Houston tomorrow

Wow!!! Stunning, Tony! I just love Ranunculus asiaticus. White, yellow or red; they're all just so...wow!

[Hans A.]

Martin and Tony - thanks a lot. The pictures are really stunning, hardly to understand they are so seldom seen - are they to easy to grow?
 I have been looking a long period of time for them - it is easy to find double ones - but the wildform was never offered.

[Gerdk]

Martin and Tony - thanks a lot. The pictures are really stunning, hardly to understand they are so seldom seen - are they to easy to grow?
 I have been looking a long period of time for them - it is easy to find double ones - but the wildform was never offered.

Tony,
same question: is R. asiaticus easy?  My experience with this species was -
sometimes they are doing excellent - sometimes very poor - and finally they disappeared.
Regrettably I never tried to relate this to climatic conditions of the preceding year.
Do you keep the tubers totally dry in summer? I did, and this might be the reason for my bad results.
Your plants look magnificent!

Gerd

[Tony Willis]

They are very easy in that I keep them moist through the winter growing period and when they die down in about May dry them off,put them in the garage until September when i clean them and repot.At that time they are completely shrivelled and look dead. I sometimes soak them for 24 hours before replanting to plump them up.Until thisd year I have kept them frost free but they now have to take their chances in the alpine house because i have run out of frost free space.here are a couple more pics.The picotee is from Crete and comes in all shadesI do not have red and have only seen it once in the wild in Cyprus and there was of course no seed at that time.

[mark smyth]

Amazing.

Someone did send me seeds in 2006. Last year they sprouted like cress. Maybe one or two this year 

[Gerdk]

They are very easy in that I keep them moist through the winter growing period and when they die down in about May dry them off,put them in the garage until September when i clean them and repot.At that time they are completely shrivelled and look dead. I sometimes soak them for 24 hours before replanting to plump them up.Until thisd year I have kept them frost free but they now have to take their chances in the alpine house because i have run out of frost free space.here are a couple more pics.The picotee is from Crete and comes in all shadesI do not have red and have only seen it once in the wild in Cyprus and there was of course no seed at that time.

Thank you Tony. Just beautiful!
I saw a lot of yellows, whites and pink R. asiaticus in Crete - no reds, only a very few scarlet coloureds - all are an impressive sight, especially when growing between ruins of an ancient city.

Gerd

[Maggi Young]

R. asiaticus is a flower which contrives to look impossibly glamorous in all its colour forms. Hard to believe that a flower so pretty-pretty could live in rather harsh conditions... that's a large part of its charm, though, isn't it?

Tony.... have a good trip.... haste ye back! (But Houston? Not many wildflowers  there, are there?  )

[TC]

About 11 years ago I remember seeing the red flowered variety in Rhodes and the white flowers in Crete.