...or commonly known as the Tuberose shown here in my sunny East window in my little Kentucky house. Caught it at a lovely moment with the sun shining through a window hanging; which has special memories because it came from my Mom's house, as well as Madame Butterfly you see to the right. Her wings are leaded glass and it all just came together at the right moment.
Tuberoses are not really roses and a friend and I were gifted with starts of the bulbs earlier in the summer. We waited and waited but no blooms came to either of us so while I was reading about whether to lift them from the dirt outside (yes, can stay out year-round only in zones 8-12) I discovered the reason for the lack of blooms. We have bulb-ettes...you know, the little babies that cling on to the side of the bigger bulb? Tuberoses apparently do not bloom except from the mature bulb. OK, so I am trying one pot for all winter greenery and see what it does next spring, and the others, I will lift and dry out in paper (bag or towel) not plastic. Plastic bags cause rot and mildew if the seeds or bulbs are not completely dry.
This is a floral bulb that has an intense fragrance like Jasmin and Gardenias and therefore, are used in wedding ceremonies from Indonesia, South India, Mexico and the U.S., to name a few. Typically night blooming and blooming on a stalk from the bottom up, they make a showy and elegant addition to any arrangement, particularly a bride's bouquet. See inset picture I got from the Internet.
I still have lovely pictures of fall in Kentucky and Tennessee so I will put these on also. A lovely shot of Miss Fall Dahlia, which is also grown from a spring-summer bulb and in my zone 5-6, it also needs to come out now or be heavily mulched, or, put up under an awning or overhang to winter it without freezing.
You can plant bulbs in this zone all the way to December or whenever the ground freezes so hard that you can't get them in the dirt. They need the cold in order to do their growing thing but I also found that by trying to force them to bloom early by putting the bulbs in the kitchen freezer is too cold, that does not work at all! I finally gave up trying to do the frig-to-pot thing and just buy pre-started ones at the grocery in January.
For now, do those fall chores; I helped a good friend who should not be on a ladder wash her windows inside and out, have purchased bulbs to naturalize some places at cousin's. We are all in transition here. Daylight saving's time ends this Saturday....fall back into those flannel sheets, pull up a good book and try to get used to the fact that the seasons are changing.
Here in Kentucky, I started unloading cabinets, as I did for a friend last night, who is also moving. Note to Self: just how old are the spices and why do we need to drag plastic cups around? NOT. I am finally getting the hang of "less is better" though not as good as friend L in SC...she is the Queen of Get Rid of It.
I'm off. Enjoy the last warmth of the sun on your face without a coat. Pray and be thankful for our friends and loved ones on the East Coast.
For your own self: go back to those Thankful and Grateful lists that we talked about in the Spring. When you focus on things you have, you will be less inclined to dwell on what you do not. Simple things like acknowledging sunsets, morning dew, the way these blooms unfold so fabulously, so many different ways.
Tell me, oh professed unbeliever, how could man have ordered the universe thus? (thusly?) Cousin will tell me; we are all about grammar.
Oh! One more thing! I was at a big hardware store; you know, those big boxy ones starting with the letter "L", went to the Customer Service desk and asked the young lady "Do you still have tulip bulbs?" She paused and said very cheerily "I don't know, let me call the 'lectric department for ya".
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| Fall Dahlia from my back yard in KY |
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| Bell County, KY |
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| Mist in the morn, near Rogersville, TN |
