Planting freesia

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I planted some Home Depot Single Mixed Freesia this morning. The package contained sixty bulbs, and I planted them in groups of threes and still have a few left over. I will find another place to plant the rest. Freesia has nice tropical foliage, and it will bloom in the spring.

I've planted freesia here in The Tropical Paradise before, and they do grow well here in the desert, but I did it wrong before. One thing that I did wrong was to plant them where they didn't get enough sunlight in the winter. Flowering plants need sunlight to bloom, and where sunlight falls on your garden changes with the season, so pay attention to the light and shadow in your garden. Another mistake that I made was to plant the bulbs all alone. Freesia looks best in groups, like in the picture on the package, so put several bulbs in one hole, just barely touching each other. I did groups of three today, but I'm sure that you could do more. A single freesia plant is elegant, perhaps in a corsage, but out in the garden, you need them to grow in masses. Another thing that I did in the past was to buy the bulbs at the 99-cent store. That's a good idea if you are just experimenting, but a bad idea if you really want to grow flowers.

Freesia planting area
Experimenting with bulbs you get at the 99-cent store is all well and good, but there comes a time when you feel that you really know what you are doing, and are willing to invest and do it right. By the way, if you would like to *Learn From My Fail*, bulbs like tulips and gladiolus just don't like it here. The big winners in the bulbs category here are Cannas, Iris, Daffodils, and Freesia.

I laid down a generous amount of fresh potting soil, sprinkled some slow-release plant food down, dug a small hole with the blade of a hand chisel (really just pushing the soil aside), and planted the bulbs three at a time a few inches apart. Then I poured on more potting soil and gently firmed it in by hand. A spray of water, and it's done!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hello Brad,

I had a question regarding watering the bulbs. I planted some daffodils, freesia and ranunculus here in phoenix but didn't know how frequently I need to water.Should I wait for soil to dry before watering again?
Thank you!!
November 21, 2012 at 10:52 PM
Brad Hall said…
This is what has worked for me. I water them in well when I plant them and then let the automatic watering system take care of them through the end of December, which comes on twice a week.

Since I turn off my automatic watering system for January, I hand-water the bulbs (with a hose) a couple of times a week.

The point is, these plants love as much water as you can give them. Keep the soil fairly wet all of the time.
November 22, 2012 at 7:26 AM
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