FREESIA 



THE BULB BOOK 



FREESIA 



Cultivation.— Freesias, owing to 

 their gracefulness, beauty, and fra- 

 grance, are popular not only witt 

 amateurs, but are also extensively 

 grown in tlie Channel Islands and in 

 America by market - gardeners for 

 their blossoms. In private gardens 

 it is easier to cultivate the plants in 

 pots, the 5-in. or 6-in. sizes being 

 chiefly used. The bulbs should be 

 obtained as early in August as possible, 

 and the pots in which they are to be 

 placed should be well drained with a 

 layer of crocks over the bottom. 

 Although Freesias wUl grow in any 

 light rich soil, that which appears to 

 suit them best is a compost of two or 

 three parts fibrous loam, one part 

 leaf-soil, and one part peat, with a 

 little silver sand or grit. Some 

 growers add a little well-decayed cow- 

 manure, but sometimes the plants are 

 a failure when this is the case. 

 Others use no manure from the cow 

 or horse, and obtain excellent results 

 from loam, peat, leaf-soil, and 

 sand. The bulbs should be placed 

 about 1|^ to 3 ins. from each other 

 in the pots (three to five bulbs to a 

 5-in. pot), and should be covered with 

 about an inch of compost. This should 

 be pressed down fairly firm with the 

 fingers, and afterwards gently watered 

 to settle it. The bulbs thus potted 

 should be placed in a cold frame on 

 a moist bed of ashes or cinders, or 

 even out of doors in a sheltered comer, 

 and covered with coco-nut fibre or fine 

 ashes. When growth has well started 

 and the leaves are 3 to 4 ins. above 

 the soil, a few slender twigs or 

 sticks should be inserted round the 

 rims of the pots to keep the foliage 

 from toppling over. Suckers should 

 be carefully pulled out, so that all the 

 energy may be thrown into the main 

 growths. Some judgment is required 

 in watering, care being taken not to 

 give too much on the one hand, or 



223 



too little on the other. The quantity 

 given will depend largely upon the 

 activity or otherwise of the growth. 

 On the approach of frost, say about 

 the end of September or early October, 

 the plants must be taken from the 

 cold frame in which they were started 

 and transferred to a greenhouse with 

 a temperature of 50° to 60° F. All 

 the bulbs need not be brought in at 

 once, and where a succession of 

 blossom is required in winter and 

 spring, it will be necessary to have 

 batches in several stages of develop- 

 ment. As the flowers wither they 

 should be cut off (unless seed is re- 

 quired), and by gradually lessening 

 the supply of water to the roots the 

 leaves begin to fade and the bulbs 

 may be left resting in the pots until 

 the following August or September. 

 If placed on a shelf in bright sunshine, 

 giving water as required, the bulbs 

 ripen slowly, but will be fit for grow- 

 ing another season. 



Feeesias feom Seeds. — The Freesia 

 is one of the few bulbous plants that 

 is not only easily raised from seed 

 but comes into blossom well within 

 a year after the seeds are sown. 

 Seedling varieties are now becoming 

 popular. It must, however, be 

 remembered, that one cannot guaran- 

 tee any particular variety coming 

 " true " from seed, and many inferior 

 forms may also be anticipated. 

 Where any special variety is required 

 it can only be kept true by propagat- 

 ing it from offsets from the older 

 bulbs. 



To raise Freesias from seed, a rich 

 sandy compost should be prepared by 

 passing some fibrous loam, leaf -mould 

 and sand in about equal proportions 

 through a sieve. This compost should 

 be placed in well-drained 5-in. or 6-in. 

 pots, up to within about 1^ ins. of 

 the rim. From five to six seeds should 

 be placed on the surface in each pot, 



