Jackie- you are in for a surprise. Just water, fertilize and let it grow. Sometime in the summer it will send up a long stalk which will open a series of the best smelling flower. Cut the stalk and put in water in your house and it will perfume the entire house. I grow about 20 tubs of them amongst my plumerias and delight in wonderful scented flowers. There are doubles and singles. I have mostly doubles as seen in the pics.

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Bill,
They are beautiful!! I am excited, can't wait. Same fertilizer as plumies????

Jackie

Do they only come in white? They are beautiful.

Hi Jackie,

Plant them in large pots no smaller than 3gal per a clump (the bulbs grows in clumps). From my experience, tuberose that are "mature" clumps in 1 or 2 gal pots do not bloom well but those in larger pots will bloom better.

In your region (MD), you probably don't want to plant them in the ground unless you want to dig them up each fall and replant them into pots, because they are barely hardy even where I live (CA). I've had some succumb to cold and wet that eventually rotted in Winter. So the gritty mix might serve you well in the Winter time when it is best to keep them on the dry side.

They usually bloom in late Summer here, late August to September. Short-lived blooming season but very much worth it! The smell reminds me of gardenias and a tint of very ripe pineapples.

The foliage can get floppy, so if you care about that, you may find a Peony Hoop that will hold the leaves upright.

-Dar

I agree with Dar except some will bloom earlier. I have a bloom stalk coming right now on one of my plants. Also the tubers can be dug up in the fall and bare rooted in a pot inside over the winter. I put about 4 clumps in a low, fat 5 gallon pot with a plumeria mix soil and I fertilize with fish emulsion in the spring and then I just use my plumeria fertilizer now. Mine produce blooms as early as july and late as September but the scent is much nicer than gardenia to me. I have over a dozen large gardenia plants that pump out tons of gardenias which I do love, but the tuberrose is like a trip to Hawaii. I have grown pikaki *arabian jasmine) pink jasmine, and other great scented flowers but my favaorites are tuberroses with Celadine plumeria flowers...ah...heaven.

LOL Bill, after you mention that, I'm going to go on an impulse buy and finally get a Celadine.
-Dar

irun5k,
I live in an arid climate and Tuberose is one of the few flowers that will have a wafting fragrance along with some of the ones you mentioned such as Confederate Jasmine. A single tuberose flower stalk fills my entire living room with it's alluring fragrance. It even rivals Cestrum nocturnum but the smell of tuberose is way more pleasant.

-Dar

I'm going to get a tuberose!

Stop making me want new plants!!! LOL!!! That looks lovely!

Oh Emily lol Come on now Thats what we do here. Enable hehehe They are beautiful and my bulb sprouted so I am really looking forward to the blooms Bill showed us. Now whats one more plant :)

Jackie

Irun5K- those are great triple pikake blooms. That amount would make me sneeze as I have a slight reaction to too much of that flower but those would surely smell up a house. I love the scent but in mass it makes me sneeze.

Hi,
I have just received three plants in the mail. I live in Alaska and can't plant these in the ground. The leaves are about 8-10 inches tall. When I plant them in a tub should I cut the leaves or leave them and what type of soil mix do I use?

AK if your plants are tuberoses, then just plant in regular potting soil and do not cut the leaves if they are green. Yellow-brown leaves are finished and can be pulled off. Usually mail order tubers are sent bare and you plant them root part down and soon green shoots appear. Mine are just now showing green leaf tips. These require more water and moist soil than plumerias so no gritty mix or airy mixtures. They seem easy to grow and multiply.