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Freesia alba / White Freesia / Spring Flowerng Bulb / Seeds

(Code: KB_071)
£ 1.85
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Freesia alba / White Freesia / Spring Flowerng Bulb / Seeds

Freesia alba is one of the original species of Freesia. It is a great plant that retains the original intense fragrance lost from many modern varieties and hybrids of Freesia.  Plants grow sword shaped leaves in autumn and winter and have showy white flowers in spring, growing to a height of about 40cm.  After flowering the plants die down and start regrowing again in autumn. These plants will naturalise in warmer UK and Mediterranean gardens, and are excellent pot plants for colder gardens that can be brought into a greenhouse or conservatory over winter.


This Freesia grows naturally in coastal areas of the Cape Floral Kingdom in South Africa, and prefers sun and well drained, neutral to acidic soil.  Plants grow in stony and sandy coastal gardens.  They attract bees when in flower.


Pack of 20 seeds.  Sow in summer to autumn.  Germination is erratic, so sow more than you need.  Sowing instructions and a colour photo are printed on the packet.

   

See how your seeds are packed.
Hardiness Half hardy perennial (forms corms) (RHS Hardiness H3)
Flowers Spring
Height 20 - 40m
Spread 15 - 20cm
Conditions  Full sun to part shade and well drained soils, protected from hard frosts
Sow

Sow in summer to autumn in small pots of compost, two to three seeds per pot.  Keep moist and do not use a cover such as a lid or plastic bag as this can encourage fungal diseases.  Keep at a warm 20-25°C and germination takes 4-6 weeks, but can be erratic so sow more than you need.   Grow on young plants in their small pots until the second season, when they can be potted on and some may flower.  More commonly they will flower in the third season.  Protect young plants and fresh leaves from slugs, snails and aphids.  
Grow Plants grow their leaves in autumn and winter and flower in spring.   They die down after flowering in summer when the corms should be allowed to dry out.  Start watering again in autumn.  Pots of plants can be sunk in gardens in spring and removed after flowering into a greenhouse to dry out.  Corms can be lifted in summer and kept somewhere cool and dry, and planted out to a depth of x3 their height in autumn.  Mature plants produce lots of cormlets which can be separated from the plant during summer and grown on into more plants.