Our
Freesia crop is coming in really strong here on the
Farm in Arcata. Freesia is a flower I wasn’t too familiar with until recently. Now I am enchanted by this delicate, elegant and fragrant flower….it may be my new favorite flower…sorry
Leen van der Mark Tulips. Right now I have our
Red Beauty variety on my desk, it captures the essence of autumn with its warm, reddish, orangeish, dark yellowish color palette. This great color is augmented by a citrus scent that is truly out of this world. On closer inspection, the freesia is full of contradictions.
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| A bold arrangement of Sun Valley Freesia. |
Named after the German physician Dr. Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese, this flower is a native of Africa. Apparently, the flower was first brought to Europe in the 1700s, however, do to some errors was never properly classified. In 1870’s the flower was rediscovered growing in the Botanic Gardens of Padua, Italy. After this “rediscovery”, somehow connected to Dr. Freese, the Freesia became widely cultivated after 1874.
Sun Valley grows several different colored varieties freesia and we have the crop year-round, however, right now is the primo time for freesia.
White is the most sought after color, luckily, we have quite a few white varieties being harvested. The process of growing a Freesia isn’t a simple one; in fact it is one of the most challenging crops on the Farm to grow. This is because the temperature of the soil is the key factor in having a robust crop.
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| The most popular freesia color? White. Perfect for weddings and the coming holidays. |
Here is how it works: Corms are planted directly in the soil, protected by a “Hoop House.” The crop takes a long time, usually between 20 to 24 weeks. During this time we need to keep the soil pretty warm, specifically above 53.6 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature the plants will grow big, tall and healthy, however, they will never bloom. Hmmm, this could be a problem.
To change the Freesia from a vegetative plant to a budding plant we need to chill the soil, and it will “set bud”, a.k.a. produce flowers. Back in the old days, farmers would literally bury water pipes underground among the rows. They would run warm water through the pipes during the vegetative cycle, then start pumping cold water through the pipes when it was time for budding and the subsequent harvest.
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| How do you think these smell? |
At Sun Valley we have experimented with a lot of systems to produce outstanding freesia, however, we finally took a nudge from Mother Nature. Here in Arcata we have perhaps the perfect climate to grow freesia, our summer lows hover in the low 50’s and our highs might hit 75. As we roll into fall, the lows dip into the mid-40’s and the highs are in the 50’s and the freesia naturally start budding, RIGHT ABOUT NOW. This is a banner year for our freesia, as the temperature has been perfect, the stems are long and the blooms are robust. We grow freesia year round on the farm, so in the winter and spring we actually lay tarps the over the beds of corms to hold the warmth in.
Earlier in this post, I mentioned that the Red Beauty variety has citrusy scent. Another interesting thing about freesia is the fact that the different colored blossoms can have dramatically different fragrances. The white variety seems to have peppery overtones, while the purple is a bit more earthy. By all accounts the white is considered to be the most fragrant.
According to About Flowers, the bright flowers blossom along one side of the plants stem, a pattern known as “zygomorphic.” While the buds are produced facing downward, the stem bends as the flowers mature so that the blossoms end up facing upward. Each long stem produces up to 10 flowers with little foliage.
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| Get Creative with Sun Valley Freesia! |
Freesia are said to symbolize friendship, innocence, thoughtfulness, perseverance and being high-spirited. It is also the flower given for the seventh wedding anniversary. Contemporary florist, noting its graceful appearance, recommend freesia for someone who has performed gracefully under pressure.
I think “Grace Under Pressure” fits the personality of the elegant freesia perfectly. Grown for a long time, under very particular conditions, freesia come out as a beautiful, classically styled flower with a lovely scent and long vase life.
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