Habenaria carnea

[Paul]

Have had this one for 3years now. First year, despite being a blooming sized tuber did not get any blooms over the summer. Didn’t show any signs of wanting to go dormant as fall arrived so forced it to go dormant. Second year, same thing except I decided not to force dormancy but rather to let it decide when to do so. Bloomed for me that Dec. or Jan. then went dormant. This year has followed that same cycle thus far. Have only gotten one bloom each time though not sure why. Perhaps not keeping it wet enough? In any event, it hasn’t died and has bloomed so I won’t complain.

Since Photobucket went and got greedy stupid, I don't currently have an online photo album to use so just doing an attachment. (Hope that works. Haven't used that function in years.)

[No-Pro-mwa]

Cute. See it fixed you when you tried to make it do something. I won't bloom until I'm good and ready.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by No-Pro-mwa

Cute. See it fixed you when you tried to make it do something. I won't bloom until I'm good and ready.

Indeed. But it is supposed to be a summer bloomer. The woman I got the tuber from was shocked last year when I told her about its late blooming. Hers bloom on time.

[Leafmite]

Congratulations on the blooms.

Freesia is supposed to be a summer bloomer, too, but it always blooms during the winter for me. No idea.

[orchidsarefun]

Advice on any habenarias. Something I learned through experience - from deflasking, to growing various species. Never try and force these into dormancy ( like withholding watering ) as the period after blooming is when the new bulbs develop. The foliage and stems have to dry/die off naturally - to the pot - and the plant looks ugly for months. If you have multiple plants in a pot as I do with medusa and radiata, it's safe to harvest the bulbs that are dormant and keep regular watering on others that are still green.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

C
Freesia is supposed to be a summer bloomer, too, but it always blooms during the winter for me. No idea.

IIRC, freesia require cool temps to bloom.

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

Never try and force these into dormancy ( like withholding watering ) as the period after blooming is when the new bulbs develop.

Good to know that I made the correct call in allowing it to do what it wants.

[Leafmite]

That makes sense.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Congratulations on the blooms.

Freesia is supposed to be a summer bloomer, too, but it always blooms during the winter for me. No idea.

Genus Freesia (in the iris family, Iridaceae) is widespread in southern Africa. Most species are from summer-wet, winter-dry climates. A few species are from winter-wet, summer-dry climates. There are also a few species from the zone between, with year-round rain potential. Almost all the fragrant species are winter growers and bloomers. The winter growing species easily tolerate substantial overnight frosts, but cannot handle multiple days below freezing.

Most garden hybrid Freesia have ancestry from both primary climate zones. The summer-rainfall species tend to be from cooler areas. So the hybrids tend to behave like winter growers and bloomers in warm climates, and like summer growers and bloomers in cool climates.

For me the garden hybrids are strict winter growers, and can be left outside year-round. They begin growing when it cools down in the fall, and go dormant when it warms up in the spring. I can leave them outside to get summer rain because of their summer-growing ancestry. Many winter-rainfall bulbs, like Lachenalia, rot if they get water during the warm dormant season.