I grow tuberose for its scent on hot summer nights. The flower is white and held up on a strong stem so you don't have to stoop to sniff.
It grows from bulbs that are set out after the soil is warm. Bloom starts in July and continues through September. Unlike spring bulbs, tuberoses do not all bloom together. One bulb will bloom 60 days after planting, another 90, so there’s a long staggered season. Tuberose is tropical, flourishing in sun and heat and rich, moist soil. Put out too early in cold soil, they sulk.
Their long grassy foliage is unkempt, so I have planted them among daylilies and grasses where the leaves will be concealed. Every year I think that a 15” pot planted with a dozen bulbs would be a good idea. I have a notion that in isolation, the plant’s messiness would be less a fault, but I have yet to grow them that way.
I’ve grown both the double “Pearl” and single “Mexican White.” Both are fantastically scented, and I surprised myself when I found I preferred “Pearl” as I usually favor singles.
The bulbs can be stored inside over winter. Leave them in the ground till Thanksgiving -- they don’t usually show signs of dormancy. I lift the bulbs leaving the top growth attached, then wash the soil from the bulb and roots and just leave the dug plant outside to air dry. Their leaves reluctantly yellow and drop. When frost is expected I bring the bulbs with all their top growth attached inside and keep them in a cardboard box in an unheated room. They spend the winter like that.
Around tax day I take a look. All the foliage and dried roots can be pulled from the bulbs. Usually they have offset dozens of little bulblets that I break from the mother bulb. (These will throw up a mess of little unblooming shoots if they are left on. The bigger offsets will send up flowers.) Usually I pot up some of the bulbs and start them on a heat mat. Just as they were reluctant to go dormant, they are reluctant to resume growth. It’s usually a month or so before they break dormancy. Wait till the ground is really warm before they are planted out.
It grows from bulbs that are set out after the soil is warm. Bloom starts in July and continues through September. Unlike spring bulbs, tuberoses do not all bloom together. One bulb will bloom 60 days after planting, another 90, so there’s a long staggered season. Tuberose is tropical, flourishing in sun and heat and rich, moist soil. Put out too early in cold soil, they sulk.
Their long grassy foliage is unkempt, so I have planted them among daylilies and grasses where the leaves will be concealed. Every year I think that a 15” pot planted with a dozen bulbs would be a good idea. I have a notion that in isolation, the plant’s messiness would be less a fault, but I have yet to grow them that way.
I’ve grown both the double “Pearl” and single “Mexican White.” Both are fantastically scented, and I surprised myself when I found I preferred “Pearl” as I usually favor singles.
The bulbs can be stored inside over winter. Leave them in the ground till Thanksgiving -- they don’t usually show signs of dormancy. I lift the bulbs leaving the top growth attached, then wash the soil from the bulb and roots and just leave the dug plant outside to air dry. Their leaves reluctantly yellow and drop. When frost is expected I bring the bulbs with all their top growth attached inside and keep them in a cardboard box in an unheated room. They spend the winter like that.
Around tax day I take a look. All the foliage and dried roots can be pulled from the bulbs. Usually they have offset dozens of little bulblets that I break from the mother bulb. (These will throw up a mess of little unblooming shoots if they are left on. The bigger offsets will send up flowers.) Usually I pot up some of the bulbs and start them on a heat mat. Just as they were reluctant to go dormant, they are reluctant to resume growth. It’s usually a month or so before they break dormancy. Wait till the ground is really warm before they are planted out.
No comments:
Post a Comment