Flower development is regulated primarily by temperature and light intensity. Set the bulbs two to three inches apart in the pot. For 8" pots, plant about nine bulbs. For 10" pots, plant 12-14 bulbs. Set the bulbs on top of the soil in the pot and then cover with peat moss or a sandy mixture so the top of the bulb is one and a half to two inches deep. This means the soil level is well down from the edge of the pot. Make sure your soil is the well-draining type. Freesias cannot be waterlogged. Keep the bulbs slightly damp at 40F. No higher. Full sunlight. Increase the watering as the bulbs grow and when they get seven full leaves, increase the temperature to about 50- 54F. Start feeding with half strength balanced ratio fertilizer as the flower buds start to form. Do not allow the temperature to get over 60F or youÂll get spindly weak growth that will flop over. The ideal temperatures are between 51 and 54 F. I know that is somewhat finicky, but that is how you get the blooms! As thee temperature gets up toward 60F, and never should it be over that high; the growth will get faster and more spindly. I had some in a pot near a sunny window this winter. I suppose that the exposure was good enough without being too hot, and that the nearness of the glass to the flowers kept the blooms cooler even though some heat was on during cold days. The blooms were quite successful, but my disappointment was that the ones I thought I picked out were not the ones that actually bloomed! Someone must have got the corms mixed up in the bins; I wanted pink opal ones, but I got bronzy red!

I just potted up some freesias and used the following instructions. Indoor Forcing 1. Fill your containers with good quality, well-drained soil. Almost any commercially available potting medium will work fine. Make sure there are adequate drainage holes; freesia must never sit in waterlogged soil or they will rot. 2. Site your containers on a sunny windowsill - the sunnier, the better. When grown indoors, freesia often don't get as much light as they'd like and so they tend to flop a bit. We recommend using support rings or stakes in all but greenhouse situations. 3. Plant your freesia 2 deep and 1 apart for the most brilliant display. The bulbs look like small, slim onions. Plant them with the pointed end facing up. 4. After planting, water freesia well, until water comes out of your container's drainage holes. Sprouts will show in a few weeks with leaves and buds following shortly thereafter. 5. When in bloom, the flowering period can be prolonged by placing the potted freesia in a cool room. Flowers may also be snipped for use in a vase. Water plants as needed to keep soil lightly moist. 6. After flowering has finished, freesia plants may be transplanted to outdoor gardens in zones 9-11. In colder areas it's difficult to coax a rebloom. Most gardeners savor the graceful blossoms and their intoxicating fragrance for a single season. Think of freesia as the horticultural equivalent of fine chocolates - while they don't ever last long enough, but they're still delicious. Quantity tips: For 12-15" pots - plant 15-20 For 10" pots - plant 12-14 For 8" pots - plant 9 Bit of Horticultural Geometry Freesia flowers are zygomorphic which just means that they grow along one side of the stem, in a single plane. When you look at a flower stalk however, you'll see that the blooms are facing upwards. How does this work? Freesias stems have the unusual habit of turning at right angles just below the bottom flower. This causes the upper portion of the stem to grow almost parallel with the ground. The flowers bloom along the top side of the stalk, which makes them lovely to look down into in a garden setting and ideal for arrangements.

I grow a lot of daffodils too (mostly small-flowered types). Mine are all in full, hot sun and bloom and grow really well year after year. I agree with tomatofreak as usual, full sun is fine since they bloom when it's cooler and then disappear underground for summer dormancy. I water mine once a week or so in autumn and spring, and maybe, just maybe once a month in summer, but I bet I water even less than that in summer when they're out of sight out of mind. Juttah, I think your bulbs would be fine through spring and blooming, but that sounds like a lot of water for the summer when they're dormant. I'm curious to hear what other folks say though too. I tend to almost not-water them in summer, same with lycoris, and scilla too. gardenerprer, I think you did everything right for planting yours too. Keep us posted! Happy gardening all, Grant

What a great read! Thanks so much for sharing. I have a friend who lives in a small town north of here. He doesn't follow Chris' strict protocol, but he does occasionally help himself to plants from abandoned property. I'm off to read the blog and do some shopping. ;)