Freesia 'Joan Evans'

Appologize for beginning on such a negative note...I find it unacceptable to label a plant with a specific cultivar name unless it has be...Read Moreen developed and hybridized in a step-wize fashion. Anomatheca (syn. Freesia) laxa is a variable species when it comes to the flower. It seeds freely and individual seedlings vary in flower color from blue, to white, to different shades of pink and salmon, and red. I have had very soft pink seedlings and white seedlings coming up in my garden where I have had the more red flowered types. I have never introduced a pale pink or white to my garden. They just appear naturally!!! The most common color for me seems to be a salmon pink and a deeper red color. The blue-flowered form so far has only shown slight variations but is quite prolific and has rebloomed at least a couple of times...the pinkish-red more rarely. Please let us just give these plants descriptive names relating to color and form and stop claiming ownership!!!

All-in-all this is a remarkably amiable plant in San Diego gardens. It is never a nuisance yet pops up in some of the most surprising places! The flower color may be variable but the size is the same... however the larger the plant the more branches on each flower scape. Blooming plants range from a few inches to nearly 2 ft.!! It is extremely adaptable to many garden conditions. I cannot see my garden as ever being without it!!!

This cultivar is white with red markings and is a hybrid of Freesia laxa and Freesia laxa 'Alba'. If selfed and grown from seed, the plan...Read Morets produced are variable in markings with the red markings sometimes smaller and less pronounced.

All of the Freesia laxa species and hybrids are unique and beautiful rarely grown spring blooming bulbs native to Africa; but are easily naturalized in southern gardens. Freesia laxa species has been in cultivation for 200 years, but is rarely seen in commerce today although is an extremely reliable tiny naturalized bulb in southern gardens. It blooms in February through March on 12” stalks going completely dormant by early summer in southeast Texas. It seems to not be bothered by moisture during its dormancy and provides a welcome respite from winter blandness. This underused little beauty is a rapid reproducer and is undergoing a resurgence in popularity due to its easygoing cultural requirements and myriad of hybridizing possibilities.