Freesia received its name as a tribute to the famous German physician, Dr Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese. Belonging to the family of ‘Iridaceae’, freesia is specially noted for its distinct fragrance. The available colours are yellow, red, pink and white. One of the most popular species is ‘F. refracta’, which was obtained by cross-breeding with ‘F. leichtlinii’ in the 19th century. Different new varieties of this plant have been created and gradually the colour range also has increased to include many different shades like blue-mauve. One of the well known varieties is known as ‘ballerina’ as it resembles a dancer.

This popular flower had its origins in Africa but was brought to Europe in the later part of the 19th century. The flowers grow throughout the year but blossom in spring.

It is very interesting to note that freesia was almost not known in the UK till 1950, but now it is regarded as one of the most popular flowers of the country with more than 110 million stems sold in the UK every year. Unlike most varieties of flower where the white shade smells the strongest, in freesia, the pink and the red varieties are noted for their fragrance.