Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called Meadow Buttercup, Common Buttercup, Tall Buttercup, Butter Daisy.

More about meadow buttercup

About Meadow Buttercup

Ranunculus acris · also called Meadow Buttercup, Common Buttercup · flowering

Ranunculus acris is a native European and North American perennial wildflower of damp meadows, pastures, and roadside verges, recognisable by its upright, branched stems bearing glossy, bright-yellow flowers with five rounded petals from May to August. It naturalises freely in grass and is an important nectar source for early bumblebees and hoverflies; the double-flowered cultivar 'Flore Pleno' holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit and is a non-seeding garden choice. Keep soil reliably moist and avoid compacted or very dry ground. All parts of the plant are toxic to cats, dogs, horses, and livestock.

Cold limit: USDA 4-8 · RHS H7 (-30 °C to 25 °C)

What meadow buttercup's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — meadow buttercup is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H7 and USDA 4-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H7 means: Hardy in the severest European continental winters. On the US scale that maps to USDA 4-8 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly below about −20 °C. Meadow Buttercup is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for meadow buttercup as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −20 °C once established.
Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root.
First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.

Can meadow buttercup go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 4-8 and it overwinters with little or no help.
It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy.
The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when meadow buttercup can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H7 figure above.

Meadow Buttercup hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is meadow buttercup cold hardy?

Yes — meadow buttercup is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H7 and USDA 4-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. Meadow Buttercup is hardy across USDA 4-8; it belongs in the ground or a frost-proof container, not on a windowsill, and many types actively need a cold winter to perform.

What is the minimum temperature meadow buttercup can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly below about −20 °C. Meadow Buttercup is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is meadow buttercup?

Meadow Buttercup is rated USDA 4-8 and RHS H7 — Hardy in the severest European continental winters.

Can meadow buttercup survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 4-8 and it overwinters with little or no help. It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy. The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

What happens to meadow buttercup below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −20 °C once established. Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root. First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.