Growing freesias

Freesias are indigenous to the Western and Eastern Cape, and the eastern regions of Southern Africa. They belong to the large and diverse Iridaceae family of about 1 800 species distributed all over the world. There are approximately 16 freesia species in all, and literally hundreds of hybrids in a wide variety of colours. Most of these hybrids, however, originate from Freesia leichtlinii subsp. alba (formerly F. alba) and three or four other freesia species.

The focus of this article is subsp, called the white freesia or wild freesia. Its natural habitat is in the Western Cape, mainly along the coast between