Ficaria

Part of the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, as sometimes still known as Ranunculus ficaria. Lesser celandine is found across the UK in woodlands, grasslands, bare ground, hedges etc. The bright yellow flowers are out at the same time as snowdrops and daffodils. We grow a range of cultivated forms, with differing flower and leaf colours and larger or double flowers. Best grown in a pot, or an area of the garden where you don't mind them spreading.

Appearing early in spring, lesser celandine is a key nectar and pollen source, especially in shady spots, for queen bumblebees, ladybirds and hoverflies emerging from their winter torpor, although forms with more than about 12 petals are likely to have a lower provision of these resources. And particularly those with patterned leaves can form an attractive ground-cover, giving refuge to amphibians and invertebrates.