Freesias are one of my all-time favorite flowers. This isn’t a recent development — I’ve been obsessed with them since I first caught a whiff, which predates my Bath & Body Works Freesia lotion phase. (If you know, you know. If you don’t, congratulations on your youth.)
In California, freesias were gloriously easy. You tossed the bulbs somewhere in early winter and went about your business for a couple of months, then came back to stems ready for cutting. When I moved to Finland, I bought bags of bulbs and tried the same approach. The results were… dismal. Every attempt produced nothing but weak, floppy sprouts that refused to bloom no matter how much coddling I gave them. I’ve since given up on growing my own.
After I went back to work following my son’s arrival, the first thing I splurged on was mail-order freesia bouquets in winter, because finding them at Finnish florists is always hit or miss. They’re not particularly popular here, for some reason. (Finnish people: explain yourselves.)
My garden is still shaking off winter and not quite ready to produce blooms yet, so IAVOM gives me the perfect excuse to indulge. Freesias started appearing in the supermarket a few weeks ago, and I’ve been grabbing a bunch here and there to fill out this vase. It sits on my desk shelf directly above my computer, which means I can sniff them throughout the workday.
In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden — join us there!
8 responses to “In a Vase on Monday | 4th May 2026”
I can understand your affection for Freesias – I couldn’t do without them either!
https://krispgarden.blogspot.com/
Ugh, I feel so strongly about them it’s sort of ridiculous. They just make me genuinely happy? And the room smells so good all day!
I was never successful with freesias but I am in a snowy winter zone…
YES THIS. And yet, after researching why I failed, I still went out and bought a bag of corms this year to try out for spring planting. Foolish? Maybe, but the hope never dies…
Oh, very nice! And the prop is fun, too. 🙂
Thank you! He earns his keep. I grabbed that thing so fast when I saw it at the bookstore… might have a slight dinosaur obsession 😃
Thanks for joining us, Angela. I have had no success with freesias here in the UK either, so you are far from alone in not being able to grow them – I am glad you are able to undulge your passion in other ways. What do you expect to be the first flowers of the year to bloom in your garden? ps I love your dinosaur pencil holder…those teeth!! 😀
Thank you for hosting! The funny thing is, I keep seeing all these videos of UK gardeners explaining how to grow freesias and I’m like… surely I’m just doing something wrong then? But hearing all these other people say it makes me feel SO much better. The first blooms here were the snowdrops and crocuses and scilla — they’re still dominating the flower scene at this point and a little too small for cutting. The wood anemones have just come out, though, and I’ve been eyeing them already for Monday, along with the first narcissi. And that’s my T-rex pen holder! He makes me very happy 😂