Freesia

I bought this plant during the Easter season. The bulbs are now sitting on my work bench. I am in zone 6 and I know they won't make it in the ground because of our winters.

What would you do with them?

RD

Hi RD,

You can check our Plant Data Base, where several gardeners (including me) have added comments and recommendations.

http://davesgarden.com/pdb/go/2721/index.html

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply. I just subscribed to DG in Sept. and I keep forgetting to look in the data base.

I noticed that most of the people commenting are in warmer climates. There was one commenter from Kentucky, I wll email her.

If I follow your instructions NOW I will keep them in a container in the house. Should I keep them in my unheated basement so that they receive a cold spell or is that needed?

Thanks, RD

RD, mine stay outdoors each other winter and our zone is an equivalent to 9b. Means we have some frost during winter. However, since I always plant them in containers, thee are kept in sheltered positions and do not get the frost directly. What temperature has your unheated basement?

Ursula

I see from the PDB that it won't tolerate below 10. My basement is from 30-50 depending if we have the wood stove burning. I guess it would do fine. Should I water it?

Thanks for walking me through this.

RD

Once the leaves have fully dried out you can remove them easily. That's Freesia bulbs time to go dormant and they will need no water until the first tiny new green tips appear (if possible, use rainwater). In my case that is during winter and they start blooming the last winter month. However, I now learned that in colder climates they bloom during summer, so you will have to watch them.

What color are your flowers, RD?