Explore our historic walled garden and learn how we protect and nurture endangered plant species. Join us in celebrating the beauty and diversity of nature, right here at Netherhall Manor.
By the mid 17th century a gentleman would have known the flowers of Ranunculus ,Carnation, Anemone, Tulip , Hyacinth and Pinks for his garden.From the mid 19th century the term of florist or gentleman exhibitor ,was used to describe any flower for which separate classes were held at Horticultural Shows. For example when the almost perfect Laced Pink, Paisley Gem was raised by a Muslin worker called John Macree .He sent cuttings South to be presented to King George III; who had an interest in the flowers which portrayed the triumph of art over nature. Indeed , researching the name of the double yellow hyacinth when it returned from Lithuania twenty years ago;I found that the only certainty was a paper collage of the cultivar Ophir in the British Museum; reputedly made by Mrs.Delany for Queen Caroline. The modern use of the term florist a retailer of flowers has only been in use for the last 100 years.
The Scots ranunculus were derived from Ranunculus asiaticus, a native of South West Asia spreading as far West as Crete.The species is variable in colour in the wild. Some of the leaves have different forms and flowers. The Persian had compact and symmetrical flowers; the turban had coarser growth , taller stems and a slightly hardier constitution. Once the temperature falls below minus 5 degrees they are distressed by the cold, and need protection to survive outside in the winter. As they evolved in the hands of gardeners regional characteristics developed, these were known as Scottish ,Dutch, French, Italian and Persian.
The influence of the Gulf Stream in protecting plants in the Clyde Estuary helped the growers of the Scottish Ranunculus.They are easily raised from seeds ,which show great variation in the seedlings. The seedlings become infected with some ten strains of virus, not all identified, some like the cucumber virus if transferred by aphids cause the flowers to break randomly in their differing colours. These are the same groups of virus which infect tulips and caused the tulipmania.. Once infected the small tubers never change and can be increased by division . Sir Sacheverell Sitwell estimated in his book of Old Fashioned Flowers that for every named variety of tulip there were ten named ranunculus.
The Garden Book of Sir Thomas Hanmer written when he retired from public life during the Commonwealth mentions eighteen different shades of single flowers, but only five which were double and these in shades of yellow and Orange. This range of breeder (virus free) colours became ever wider from white to red to puce, deep purple , grey, crimson and olive green. This range would later be subdivided into Roses (red on white) Bizarre( purple or black on yellow) Byblomen (blue black on white.)Despite the fact that many of the Dutch flower paintings depict the ranunculus the Dutch did not take the ranunculus as seriously as the tulip.The Scots however by 1800 had forms which were spotted as well as picoteed in all colours.
Around 1850 a satisfactory manner of growth had evolved .A trench would be filled with two parts of loam and one part of leafmould or sharp sand. February was the usual time to plant the tubers, after soaking them for twelve hours in water. The tubers were spaced about 6 inches apart and the hole covered with sharp sand to show their position without labelling them. They were watered because drought, like overwatering, causes yellowing of the leaves and loss of flowering. The tubers would be lifted of plants whose ripe seed was being saved . They would be stored dry in sharp sand , which if not dry, made premature growth in the Autumn leading to frost damage and eventual loss of the tubers.
All the old named cultivars are now extinct. In 1965 I planted the last seed of the Scottish spotted cultivars ; I seemed to be the last grower of these plants. I realised I would have to change my growing methods because Spring drought in East Anglia caused too many losses. I mixed all my remaining strains together planting them in September in a cold frame. In March I pricked them out in a fertile compost. They gave a good display in July from which I could save seed. I was the last garden showing these to the public . The genetic base became narrower, only one seed in twenty was germinating. I put some seed away for four years. My grandmother had told me it took four generations for intelligence to reappear in a family. (and five to make a gentleman.) They germinated , I used them to back cross. Five years later some members of the Wakefield and Northern England Tulip Society- whose records go back to the 1836- were seeking ranunculus . This has led to more growers to create a wider genetic base. Last winter I had no frost below three degrees centigrade. All of the previous year ‘s seedlings survived and these pictures tell their story of a triumph of art over nature that King George 111 would have approved.
