404 MANUAL OF GARDENING 



winter should make blooming plants in summer; these plants may be 

 used for winter bloom, but it is better to raise new plants. Some 

 gardeners cut back old plants to secure new blooming wood; this is 

 desirable if the plants grow more or less permanently in the greenhouse 

 border, but for pots new plants should be grown. 



The common swainsona is white-flowered; but there is a good rose- 

 colored variety. 



Tuberose (properly tuber-ose, not tube-rose, from its specific name, 

 Polianthes tuberosa) . — This plant, with its tall spikes of waxen and 

 fragrant white flowers, is well known in the middle latitudes, but usu- 

 ally requires more heat and a longer season than are commonly pres- 

 ent in the most northern states. 



The tuberose is a strong feeder, and loves warmth, plenty of water 

 while growing, and a deep, rich, and well-drained soil. The bulbs may 

 be set in the garden or border the last of May or in June, covering them 

 about 1 inch deep. Preparatory to planting, the old dead roots at 

 the base of the bulb should be cut away and the pips or young bulbs 

 about the sides removed. After keeping them till their scars are 

 dried over, these pips may be planted 5 or 6 inches apart in drills, 

 and with good soil and cultivation they will make blooming bulbs for 

 the .following year. 



Before planting the large bulbs, it may be well to examine the 

 points, to determine whether they are likely to bloom. The tuberose 

 blooms but once. If there is a hard, woody piece of old stem in the 

 midst of the dry scales at the apex of the bulb, it has bloomed, and is 

 of no value except for producing pips. Likewise if, instead of a solid 

 core, there is a brownish, dry cavity extending from the tip down into 

 the middle of the bulb, the heart has rotted or dried up, and the bulb 

 is worthless as far as blooming is concerned. 



Bulbs of blooming size set in the border in June flower toward the 

 close of September. They may be made to flower three or four weeks 

 sooner by starting them early in some warm place, where they may 

 be given a temperature of about 60° to 70°. Prepare the bulbs as 

 above, and place them with their tips just above the surface in about 

 3- or 4-inch pots, in light sandy soil. Water them thoroughly, after- 

 wards sparingly, till the leaves have made considerable growth. 



