Freesia Single Yellow

The Yellow Single Freesia is a bulbous plant with a stalk that has a convex habit and supports unilateral flowering. The topaz-coloured single flowers are cone-shaped and have a sweet fragrance reminiscent of jasmine.

The Freesia, also known as the Cape Lily, is native to East Africa from Kenya to South Africa. It was named by Danish botanist Ecklon, an expert in South African flora, in honour of one of his brightest students, Dr Freese, a physician, pharmacist, and botanist. This beautiful Iridaceae is already naturalised in some regions of southern France. Its floral stalks give it a spreading and highly branched habit.

The Yellow Single Freesia has deciduous, tender green foliage that is very vertical and sword-shaped with a sharp tip. The leaves and floral stalks reach a height of about 40 cm (16in). The inflorescence develops from May to July, growing on a convex floral stalk. This unilateral flowering consists of 8 to 10 topaz-colored cone-shaped flowers measuring 2 to 3 cm (1in). They are actinomorphic, meaning they have radial symmetry. Each plant will produce 4 to 5 stalks. The Freesia has a sweet fragrance reminiscent of jasmine. Some even describe it as having hints of neroli with spicy and honeyed undertones.

The Freesia is a bulbous plant, but in this case, it is a corm, which serves as a nutrient reserve for the plant. Unlike true bulbs, the corm exhausts all of its reserves during each seasonal cycle and is replaced by a new one each time. The corm is conical and measures about 1 to 2 cm (0 to 1in) at its base. It should be planted apex facing upwards at a depth of 5 cm (2in). This will allow the new shoots to emerge more easily.

The Freesia is a frost-sensitive plant that cannot tolerate temperatures below -3 °C (26.6°F). To grow it in the ground, ensure the last frosts have passed before planting it. Find a sunny location for it, as it thrives in full sun. It prefers fresh, well-drained, sandy to gravelly soils and does not tolerate limestone. It can be paired with orange, yellow, or red Crocosmia in rockeries or borders. The Freesia can be paired with other elegant, fragrant or non-fragrant plants, whether in the ground or in a pot. At the end of the season, once the leaves have turned yellow, remove the corms from the ground and put them into dormancy indoors, replanting them in spring. The plant replenishes its reserves for the following year as long as the leaves are green. The Freesia is currently very trendy in elaborate floral arrangements. Once the first flowers have opened, you can prune the stalk and enjoy fresh flowers for about three weeks.