Freesias develop large, tubular, very fragrant blossoms in shades of yellow, apricot and white. The slender stems sometimes cannot support the plentiful blossoms upright. To keep the stems straight and the blooms out of the dirt, careful staking is required. For best results, the stakes should be placed in the soil right next to the freesia corms when they are planted to prevent piercing the corms with the stake when driving it in after the freesia is already growing.

Force the pointed end of the stake a few inches into the soil 3 inches away from the freesia corm. If the freesia is already growing and you have to guess at the location of the corm, force the pointed end of the stake into the soil 4 inches from the base of the plant.

  • Freesias develop large, tubular, very fragrant blossoms in shades of yellow, apricot and white.
  • If the freesia is already growing and you have to guess at the location of the corm, force the pointed end of the stake into the soil 4 inches from the base of the plant.

Pound the stake at least 4 inches into the soil using a small hammer.

Bend a blooming freesia stem gently towards the stake. Wrap a garden tie, twist tie or hose loop around both the stem and the stake, wrapping just under the bloom. Tie or twist firmly but not tightly, being careful not to bruise the stem.

  • Bend a blooming freesia stem gently towards the stake.
  • Wrap a garden tie, twist tie or hose loop around both the stem and the stake, wrapping just under the bloom.

Wrap another garden tie, twist tie or hose loop around the stem and the stake about halfway down the stem.

Repeat the above four steps for every heavy, bloom-laden stem on each plant.

If the stakes don't disappear into the foliage and so spoil the appearance of the plants, tie some of the foliage blades to the stakes to conceal the stakes and ties. Foliage can be tied low on each blade, as they are not top-heavy, and so don't need to be supported at the top.

TIP

Wrap or twist the stem to the stake in a downwardly-spiralling pattern so that the tie extends 2 inches or so along each. The longer section of tie support lessens the odds that the bloom head will snap off or the stem will break because the strain is distributed evenly over a longer distance.

WARNING

Always tie the top of the freesia stem first; if you tie the middle first, the weight of the blooms can pull it over, snapping the stem in half.