How Do Freesia Come Back Every Year?
Freesia are a popular garden plant, with many people having them growing in their backyard. They are easy to grow, and their trumpet-shaped flowers come in a range of colours from white through to red. They are also a popular choice for weddings, where their pink and yellow flowers symbolise motherly love.
They are native to South Africa, so they have adapted well to our climate. They like a sunny spot but are happy in some shade, too.
When they flower, they are a beautiful sight in the garden and can be used to create stunning floral displays. They are available in a wide range of colors, and their fragrance is a great scent for a garden or room.
These flowers can be cut for a bouquet and will last for a long time, so it’s worth giving them a home in your garden. You can cut the flowers at a slight angle to help keep them fresh for longer, and change the water daily if necessary.
Some freesias are sold in florist’s shops as a single-flowered variety or as a double-flowered hybrid. Hybrids offer a fantastic selection of gorgeous colors, from lavender to pink, red, and yellow.
If you want to save your own freesia corms for next year, the easiest way to do this is to harvest them in the fall after they have finished blooming. You can either dig them up and dry them, or you can store them in a cool place until the weather warms up.
The corms will grow into plants that will produce foliage in the winter, and then flower again in spring. You can even buy ‘prepared’ freesia corms that have been heat treated to mimic the conditions in their native environment where they naturally bloom in winter.
They will take a little while to get up to full height. You may need to move them to a cooler place in the spring and turn them every couple of days to help promote even growth.
You can also mix a bit of aged manure or peat moss in the soil for extra moisture and to help improve drainage. Make sure the soil is not too dry or it could rot the bulbs.
Alternatively, you can feed your freesia regularly with a 12-4-8 fertilizer. They will usually flower in 10-12 weeks after planting, and if they are kept in a cool location, you can enjoy them for a good few months.
These plants do attract some pests, however. They can be attacked by aphids, which are attracted to the new leaves and stems. Using insecticidal soap will help to remove these insects.
Another potential problem is iris leaf spot, which can appear on the leaves and stems. This is a fungal disease that affects irises, so you should remove infected leaves and stems to stop this from spreading.
If you notice your freesias have shriveled, quickly-fading blooms, this is probably caused by a too-high temperature or too much sunlight. You can prevent this by reducing the temperatures in your house and keeping your freesias in a room with a slightly cooler temperature.
