Trollius Dancing Flame and Freesia questions

[cilla]

I came back from a few days on holiday and I discovered a problem with the Dancing Flame photos attached sorry about the finger shadow.



Don't know if I have done the right thing and if I should do more. I have sprayed it yesterday with Organic Bug Free (Bayer). This morning saw some more new aphids so I have used soapy water and tried to wash as much of the black things as I could. Will I need to repeat this?
With the yellow leaves I have cut these. Why did they turn yellow?

My Freesias which I brought at the Garden Centre. One of them, the Red River, the leaves seem to have rust, is this normal and what should I do with it? Also I am cutting them for the house but I do not know if I am cutting at the right place and there does not seem anymore growing from that shot. They are lovely in the house.

[cilla]

Oh no, can no one help me with my questions.

[Martin H]

Hi Cilla, tricky questions but I'll chip in...

I've never grown the Trollius so can't give specific advice on it. Blackfly seem to be everywhere this season, I'm keeping my eyes peeled so I can wipe off small colonies with my fingers before they get too bad. If I miss them and there are too many, I try and wash them off with a jet of water then come back later and squish the remainder.

I read on the RHS site that the Trollius likes moist soil in full sun, a tricky combination. Maybe it got dry when you were off for a few days and that caused the yellowing?

Anyway, I'd keep it watered, keep an eye on the blackfly and let the plant recover. Too much human interference often makes things worse, I find.

Now onto the Freesias...

You need to understand that Freesias grow from bulbs, like daffodils. The bulb sprouts, makes leaves and sends up a flower, then at the end of summer the goodness of the leaves gets sucked back into the bulb, the leaves die off and the bulb goes to sleep until next year. So each bulb will only give you one flower per year.

In theory you can rest your plants over winter, start them into growth again in early spring and have more flowers next year. Here's a link I found. If you succeed you can pat yourself on the back and call yourself a real gardener. Personally I've always failed; if they grow at all I just get a few leaves and no flowers. Maybe a real gardener will be along soon to help.

Good luck!

[Bal]

Hi I grew freesias last year, I planted about 50 in pots and had about 30 flower. I left them in the pots over winter but didn't take them in. Had nothing from the pots this year so decided they had been killed by the frosts. When I emptied the pots there were loads of new bulbs still alive but showing no sign of growing. I have replanted them and wait to see what happens.

[cilla]

Thank you for your help and advise. I have been lucky with the amount of flowers with the freesia.
My trollius looks like it has recovered and will keep an eye on the blackflies. I have planted French Marigolds along the borders, so do not know if this will help. It is very likely I let the ground go dry especially when I was away because they are in the front of the house and gets forgotten.

[boatsman]

I have freesias in 80cm planters on the top of the garden wall. I planted them four years ago and after they have flowered and the plant above ground has completely dried, I cut them down to the ground and wait for them to regrow in the spring. In the meantime each plant has produced several bulbs underground which take about a year or so until they flower.