In this Golden Rules video, William Sinclair of Rotherview Nursery gives his expert advice on growing sempervivums.
16.01.2024 - 18:35 / gardenerspath.com / Nan Schiller
How to Grow and Care for Freesia Flowers Freesia spp.
Freesia is a genus of about 16 fragrant flowering species in the Iridaceae family that also includes gladiolus and iris.
The blossoms are showy, with three upper petals and three sepals below, forming a tubular or funnel-shaped vessel favored by honeybees.
Colors include a striking variety of lavender, orange, pink, purple, red, white, yellow, and bicolor combinations.
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Those most readily available to today’s gardeners are hybrids. In Zones 9 to 10, they are perennials.
Elsewhere, they may be grown as annuals to be discarded at season’s end, tender perennials lifted before first frost and stored over the cold months, or grown indoors for winter blooms.
This guide discusses all you need to know to grow and care for freesia at your house.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Let’s start with a bit of background.
Cultivation and HistoryCool-weather freesia grows from a bulb-like tuber called a corm and blooms from mid-winter to spring in its native South Africa, entering dormancy when the temperatures rise above 70°F.
It is winter hardy in Zones 9 and 10 but frost-tender.
The foliage is grass- or sword-like, similar to that of a gladiolus or iris.
Flowers appear in succession along one side of a leafless, arching raceme and bloom from the bottom to the top.
The average mature dimensions are 12 to 18 inches tall and six to 12 inches wide.
Cultivation dates back to 19th century England during the heyday of plant hunters who discovered new species for British collections.
With six to 12 fragrant flowers per stem and longevity as a cut flower, these exciting species were
In this Golden Rules video, William Sinclair of Rotherview Nursery gives his expert advice on growing sempervivums.
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Since 2015 she’s run the NT’s Heritage Horticultural Program, delivering practical workshops to hundreds of garden staff members. Here, she explains how to handle your hellebores so that you can enjoy a quality display of flowers for years to come.
London pride (Saxifraga x urbium) is a low-growing evergreen perennial, a hybrid between Spanish Saxifraga umbrosa and Irish Saxifraga spathularis. Once a great garden favourite, London pride plant is hardy and looks good all year round, forming spreading clumps of leafy rosettes made up of spoon-shaped, fleshy, mid-green leaves. In summer masses of small, pink-flushed white flowers are borne on slender stems of around 30cm in height, lasting for up to three months. London Pride thrives in most soils and situations and is especially useful for shady sites. It’s an undemanding and versatile perennial that has fallen from fashion but is a worthwhile garden plant, being easy to grow, yet not invasive. Called London pride because it flourished on bombed sites in the city during the Second World War, it’s even the subject of a song by playwright and composer Noel Coward, whose song titled ‘London Pride’ was popular at the time.
While gardeners often extol the virtues of outstanding bark and winter interest, let’s not kid ourselves—flower power reigns supreme. A tree that is a stately focal point most of the year will be transformed into an awe-inspiring centerpiece by spectacular blooms. Spring-flowering trees often occupy prime garden real estate, but for some easy, unexpected floral elegance, it is truly worthwhile to plant trees that bloom in summer, fall, or even late winter. Many of my favorites even have dazzling displays when they aren’t in bloom. Here are some excellent choices for you to consider.
Kathy Sandel has shared her gardens with us before (More of Kathy’s Calabasas Garden, Kathy’s Garden Transformation in Sacramento), but today she’s sharing the garden she created for her daughter in Sacramento, California.
Pruning can be intimidating. Many of us fear making a mistake our plants won’t recover from. Overall, trees are resilient; with a little practice and know-how, any gardener should be able to tackle this task. Here are some things to keep in mind before grabbing the saw.
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We were fortunate to win at Half Moon Bay, California this year. The competition was intense with 80 entries, 10 of which were over 1,000 pounds. The weigh-off is always on Columbus Day. The winner stays until the following weekend to participate in the HMB Pumpkin Festival.
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Courtesy of White Flower Farm
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