In a Vase, on Monday, Buttercups

Chris Mousseau

Each Monday Cathy at Rambling In The Garden encourages us to share a vase highlighting what is growing in our gardens. It’s the last Monday in May, which means many spectacular late spring blooming perennials are starting to shine – Iris and Lupine amongst them. Also blooming are buttercups – Ranunculus sp. Many people think this plant is just a common weed, and banish it from their gardens. When I stumbled across a rosette of wonderful looking, mottled green and dull red leaves a few years ago, however, I transplanted it to a star position in the side garden, not knowing what it was. The next year it bloomed, revealing itself to be the plant that so many children (myself included) used to pick and play with. Turns out buttercups have a waxy coating on their petals that make them shiny, allowing them to reflect a yellow glow onto tiny chins. Anyway, when I realized my vase of cut flowers this week needed a little something extra, in colour and form, buttercup fit the bill.

Lupin hybrids, unknown white Iris, and buttercups
The shadow of a trellis add and interesting backdrop when the vase is sitting on the back porch.

14 Comments

  1. That’s a really interesting fact about buttercups and you were right in how they lift the contents of your vase – great thinking Chris! I have grown some lupins from seed although I am not a huge fan – not that I have ever had a lupin in the garden before!! Your dark ones do look striking though 😊

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      1. Really? Are lupins such a big thing? I would never have guessed that it was a plant a whole swathe of people might wax lyrical about…I will go and wash my mouth out immediately Chris!

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  2. I love the Iris. I’m fond of buttercups myself and deliberately planted the native Ranunculus californicus. It comes back yearly but it’s been very well behaved here.

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  4. Those white iris look like the white variety of Iris pallida. Did you show them last week? I can not remember when I saw them. I do not cut iris because they do not last long. I might cut more if there were more here.

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  6. Ah, lupins and buttercups. What a beautiful combination. 😃 As children we also used to hold buttercups under each other’s chins to ask ‘Do you like butter?’ 😉 Of course, the answer was always yes, with that golden glow! A nice memory. Thanks Chris!

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