CHAPTER VI 



SECOND WEEK IN FEBRUARY 



OF all the irids of South Africa there is none more 

 dainty and fragrant than the freesia, and this is a 

 bulb that is within the reach of most of us, for it 

 will grow in a window as well as in a greenhouse, although 

 in that case it does not, of course, blossom so early in the 

 year. It has the merit, too, of reproducing itself yearly, 

 under good culture ; so that when once a few corms are 

 obtained, there should be an increasing supply year by year, 

 without the constant expense which the far less lovely 

 hyacinths entail. 



But there are special points in the culture of the freesia 

 which must be thoroughly grasped to ensure the best results, 

 and we have to remember that these flowers are natives of a 

 climate of extremes, very unlike our own, and to imitate it, 

 so far as we can do so with the limited amount of sunshine 

 which we enjoy in these Northern islands. 



The freesia blooms, with myriads of other bulbous plants, 

 on the veldt of South Africa during the rainy season, and 

 this gives the clue to the fact that it requires a thorough 

 supply of water during its time of growth (/'.*., from Sep- 

 tember or October until its blossoms are over), when any 

 want of water will be fatal to success. But when the flowers 

 are over it is still necessary to give a certain amount of 

 moisture to the plants, although they do not require so 

 much as before ; and this is one of the points in which the 

 ordinary gardener often fails, for the pots are too often 

 placed on their sides under the staging, with the idea of 

 "drying off" the corms before they have completed that 



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