Freesia

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Liliopsida

Order: Asparagales

Family: Iridaceae

Genus: Freesia

Freesia belongs to the Iridaceae family and has 16 species of flowering plants belonging to its genus. The name was given by Dr Freese of Germany. It is known to depict innocence. This flower is a native of Southern Africa.Of all the species, two are found in tropical Africa while the others are found in the Cape Province of South Africa. Cultivators have also come up with a number of hybrids of these flowers. This also has its utilization inside the households as an ornamental plant.

It is known for its distinct fragrance that is very strong. The flowers mostly grow in clusters of 5-10 single or double flowers on 10-18 inch long stems. Their stems are known to have very little or no leaves on them. This makes them ideal for being used as cut flowers. These flowers are bell shaped and come in various colors ranging from yellow, white, golden, red, pink, lavender, purple and sometimes even in two colors.

The freesia plant grows out of the bulb, known as corm. These corms grow into long and slightly branched stem with narrow leaves that are light green in color. The flowers are borne at the end of the stems, in the form of loose clusters, along few leaves as one sided spikes. The shape of the flower is funnel shape.

How to Grow:

Freesia is mainly grown in the spring season or in the warm weather. They should get proper amount of sunlight for them to grow into healthy plants. The ideal temperature for a freesia is 40-45 degrees or 20 F.

The Freesia plant should be planted using the following method:

1. Plant the freesia bulbs into firmly tilled soil that is rich in organic content.
2. The depth at which each freesia bulb should be planted must be around 1 inch below the ground.
3. The distance between two freesias should not be too large and these can be sown at a distance of 2-3 inches from each other.
4. Make sure you plant your freesias in proper sunlight.
5. Keep the soil properly moist but don’t make it damp.

Propagation:

It can be propagated using the bulbs called the corm or the seeds. The method of growing freesias is described above.

Uses:

These can be grown in pots and placed inside the household for decoration purposes because of the beautiful appearance of the plants. The plant is also grown in the garden.

Another use of this flowers is in the decoration purposes in the form of bouquets. The best use of this is in making perfumes, handwashes or soaps etc. because of its amazing fragrance.