Ranunculus are a cool season plant with a frost sensitive rhizome. In an ideal climate (like Carlsbad, CA) you would plant the rhizome in late fall and it would put out roots and then leaves from December - February and then bloom in March or April. After that it would go completely dormant during the hot dry summer. The problem with trying to grow them in the ground in cold climates is that the rhizome is not cold hardy so you can't plant it in the fall and let it get established in preparation for spring blooming. If you have very cool summers you can probably plant it in early spring and have a summer blooming season but then you will have to dig it up and store it in a frost free location over the winter. If you have hot summers (like me) it doesn't work to plant it in the spring because the plant doesn't have enough time to get established before the weather gets hot and triggers the blooming process. Without being properly established it will put only small weak blooms or none at all. I've tried several times and had only limited success growing it in the ground. I do have a nice one that is about to bloom in a pot and that may be an option for you if you have a cool sunny location for the plant to grow along during the winter. - Steve

Good points, NJ. People growing up today are largely doing so without much of any contact with any form of nature, period. And I'm purposely using the term 'nature' loosely. The other day, I had to take a bunch of youngsters out to show them what wetlands are, the plants and animals there and so on. One little girl said her mom doesn't ever let her walk in "high plants". Sheesh. Another young couple I know built on a "wooded lot". So there's woods behind the house, but their little Austin can't play in it. You know, poison ivy, other deadly things like that. I asked his folks if there WAS any poison ivy out in that little speck of woods. They both shruggingly responded in a way that told me that A) They had no idea if there was any out there, and B) They wouldn't know the plant if they saw it. Contrast that to when we were kids; all we did is play out in the woods and creek. The problem, as I see it, is that millions of people will not care about things they've never experienced. Now what forum is this......? Oh yeah, conifers! +oM

Hahahahahaha! Oh, that's priceless! And it must be a husband gene that causes men to feel this is appropriate decor. My DH removed the back seat from my Jeep Wrangler, and insisted (for a brief time) that it was perfect "extra" seating in our guest bedroom. Wrong! (Sadly enough, though, that stupid backseat now resides in my closet, and I have to maneuver around it on a daily basis as I'm getting my clothes together for work.) I love DH dearly, but jeez -- the big dummy.

Pains me to see such good intentions go to waste though writing about the experience here will help others. This situation is why some builders advocate for being involved in the design process. Even if just a consulting roll, a collaborative team effort might have prevented this unfortunate outcome. I think designers often fear their vision will be watered down but with the right people involved, costs and alternative construction details can be evaluated as the design is developed without sacrificing design or aesthetics. Design-bid is a bit antiquated for those seeking higher performance. In my experience, everyone benefits in a collaborative approach. To address some confusion above, Passive house (PassivHaus Institute PHI) is a German born building certification. Passive House US (Passive House Institute US PHIUS) is the N. American split from the German version. Passive Solar Design is the traditional term used to describe getting free heat from the sun. Being mindful of those strategies can help reduce cooling loads in TX, like stretching a home from east to west helps minimize windows on those vulnerable directions. Keeping Homes Cooler is a blog I wrote for new and existing homes. Often Passive House homes end up with passive solar design elements as do other designs looking to maximize efficiency with no extra upfront costs. Some passive house projects are approaching cost parity with typical crappy construction. I always enjoy Steve Baczeck's articles in Fine Homebuilding. If you can't do Passive House, at least do Energy Star. This will involve a third party energy rater who will help push a home towards current international building codes. Though these codes are rarely adopted and enforced locally, they represent a very good balance of cost and efficiency. Involve the rater early in design process. Matt Risinger is an awesome resource for building in TX and anywhere in the south. I would follow his advice as much as possible. His videos and articles on airsealing, insulation, waterproofing and humidity control are particularly important.