Tuberoses

Hello All!
Anyone have any luck with these beautiful flowers? I'm just curious b/c I see differing hardiness zones listed for them. Some say hardy to 7 others say 8. What has been your experiences?
Many thanks,
Chantell

Chantell, they make wonderful potted plants. They don't have a prayer against our winters, so I have them in pots. In the winter the foliage dies back, but you have to keep them a bit damp because unlike a real bulb, they don't die back completely. With lots of sun, water and fertilizer, they will quickly fill an 8inch/20cm pot. Divide about every 2-3 years. If they get too crowded they won't bloom as well.

Pete,
Thanks for the response...so you bring them in and put them in a basement? Then just water every now and then or what exactly is your winter routine with them? Any pref between the singles and the doubles as far as being hardy and fragrance?
Chantell

Wintertime the pots look like they have dead grass in them. I stack them in a corner where the temps remain below 50F/10C at night, watering them only when the dirt is dry. When they start to wake in the spring, I pull off the dead leaves, separate them and repot them. Or, one can grow them in the ground and dig them in the fall. At my age, I'm cutting back on all the fall digging. The singles are more fragrant, the doubles are still fragrant and more showy.

Each tuberose corm takes 2 years to bloom, and only blooms once, but they make many many offsets. After a few years you will be giving them away.

So what you are saying is that after two years they have a swan song bloom (sort of like cardicrinum) and then the off sets will take another two years? Geez ~~ I don't have that kind of patience. Is there anywhere you can buy two year olds? Nancy

I have also had luck with these beauties. I did mine and pull up the bulbs, cut off the green top and put the bulbs in a grocery bag until the next spring, then replant. I have also done as pete and left them in the pots.

Oh, but levylila, the perfume is worth the wait. And since every bulb makes 5 or 6 or more bulbs each, in a few years you have many more than you need. If you but a bulb, check to see that it has a row of babies on it. That way you know the one you are getting is 2 years old and ablle to bloom. Next year the little bulbs on there will be blooming size and by the next year they will likely need repotting.

I find these to be similar to Amorphophallus konjac so far as needs, and similar in their use as summer plants. Both are conveniently sleeping in the winter, so the space they take is minimal; you can stack the pots like dinner plates in the winter. In the spring you take them out and play with them for a day while you get them ready for summer. The A. konjac blooms in early May for me, and the leaf needs moist semi-shade. The Tuberose blooms in July in moist, lightly shaded conditions. Both like to be fed and watered regularly. And both are known for their odor.

Ah Pete...YOU are the man!!! Was wondering what the difference was between getting a bulb with "babies" or going by size of bulb. If we want flowers sooner...go with the mom & babies...do I have that right?

Yes, the presence of small ones alongside tells you how old the bulb is and how it has been fed. I'll post a picture of my underperformers --too much shade, not enough food last summer. We only had a dozen stalks on the plants. I hope to do better this summer.

Dang...cuz I actually found some doubles at my Walmart of all place...I dug till I found the package with the largest bullbs...BUT none had "babies" on them :( Guess I'll head back to the ebay listing I'd book marked.

This is a photo of a clump of Tuberose after separating. At the bottom is the white, severed basal plate that started the whole clump several years ago with this pot. After blooming, the old bulb shrivels, but the basal plate connects every bulb in this clump. A one year old bulb can be seen at left, clinging to a 2 year old. The 2 year old is a bit small but will probably send up a small flower stalk anyway. A good blooming-sized bulb is about the size of a nickle (about 2cm). Like I say, mine are small from neglect. The first photo is the clump before division. The next photo is the divided clump.

After separating, with the basal plate plainly seen at the bottom.

Ah Pete,
I'm so jealous!!! I hope I get something this summer...one way or another. :)
Chantell

If any of you have connections with people in California, tuberoses are a dime a dozen there. You can buy the bulbs out of bushel baskets at local farm markets for about $1.00. We lived a little north of Santa Barbara, on the coast, for a few years, and that was the first I'd ever seen them.. They smell heavenly and are so beautiful,,,,,big double blossomed stem.

After living in Southern California all my life it's the tropicals I think I miss the most. We had a huge patch of Tuberose in my backyard, I could smell them in the house when the windows were open. I will have to try them in the pots.

Cherry, I ordered some tuberose bulbs,

Wish I still had connections in CA...oh well...I've got two sm clusters to start with...we'll see.

Can you tell me on these how to tell the top from the bottom on these new clusters?? There isn't a bit of sprouting and I have no idea.

Mine are tear drop shaped...my understanding is the pointed end goes up. Might want to hear from someone that's had them a while though...Oh Pete?

levilyla, I am going to the conservatory tomorrow in the a.m. I can bring down a clump of bulbs and you could pick it up there.

Yes, the pointy side goes up, but it takes quite a bit of heat to get them going. Once they wake up fully they grow fast as grass.

Thanks so much for the info. I'm going to give it a try. If I close my eyes I can almost smell them.