I love freesias for many reasons.
First and foremost, they are a sense memory for me of my childhood. Much like violets (but that’s another post.)
Secondly, they have a robust and unforgettable aroma that I know with just my sense of smell, and I have yet to find any manufactured fragrance that smells even a bit close.
Thirdly, freesias are a true spring flower. Once spring is gone, they are not available until the next year. (Or if they are, they are without the intense aroma that makes them unique.)
And, sadly, I am horrible at making them grow.
I have planted bulbs for them just about every year, and every year, I get a few paltry, weak-looking leaves and no stems. No buds. No flowers.
I know it’s not watering because I get the daffodils and irises and tulips in the same bed. It’s something else.
So, I have serious freesia envy whenever I see them in someone else’s garden. I will go OUT OF MY WAY to smell a freesia (which sometimes makes Handsome uncomfy since it means sneaking into someone’s yard!!)
So, because mine droop, I have become a cut flower freesia junkie. All spring, I look every place I see a flower vendor for freesias. I smell them, and if I get that hit of memory, of care, I buy the freesias.
But the story doesn’t end there, because once you buy freesias, you have to take care of them every day or they will die prematurely. And they aren’t usually cheap.
So, here’s a few steps to help you figure out how to take care of your cut freesias, wherever you find them:
- Align your freesias, so the blooms are all where you want them in a bunch.
- Cut the freesia stems on the diagonal so that the stems don’t sit at the bottom of the vase.
- Make sure nothing but stem will be under the water line
- Fill the vase a little more than halfway with room temperature water
- Put in your freesias
- Change the water and recut the stems every day or every other for longest life.
- Remove each spent (dead) flower when you change water to extend life.
P.S. I don’t use floral preservative, ever.
I’d love to hear your stories about freesia or flower memories in comments!