Greetings, dedicated cultivator. We, the Tuberose (*Polianthes tuberosa*), sense the shortening days and the cooling air. Our fragrant, white spikes have faded, and our energy now retreats from our delicate leaves down into the safety of our plump, tuberous roots. To ensure our return with vigor and fragrance in the coming year, we require your assistance. Our needs are dictated by the winter temperatures we cannot escape. Here is our plea, organized by the zones you understand.
In these lands of mild winters, we are most content. The ground rarely, if ever, freezes around our tender tubers. You may notice our foliage yellowing and dying back as we enter our dormant period. Please, simply cease watering us. Allow the soil around us to become much drier. You may trim our spent flower stalks, but leave our foliage until it has turned completely brown and withered; this allows us to pull every last bit of energy back into our roots for storage. A light mulch of straw or shredded leaves (2-3 inches) is a welcome blanket, protecting us from any unexpected, brief cold snaps.
Here, your winters are a gamble we are unwilling to take. A hard freeze can be fatal to us if we are left in the ground. We prefer the security of being lifted. After our first frost has blackened our leaves, carefully dig us up. Gently brush the soil from our tuberous clumps, but do not wash us. Please place us in a warm, dry, and airy spot for a week or two to cure—this is crucial to prevent rot. Once we are dry, snip off the dead foliage, shake off any remaining soil, and nestle us in a box or paper bag filled with slightly moist peat moss, vermiculite, or wood shavings. Store this container in a cool (50-60°F), dark, and dry place like a basement or garage, where we will dream of the spring until it is safe to return us to the garden.
We simply cannot survive in your frozen earth. For us, the ritual of lifting is not an option but a necessity for our survival. Please follow the same process as for zones 7-8: wait for frost to kill our top growth, dig carefully to avoid nicking our tubers, cure us thoroughly, clean us, and provide a cozy, dry medium for our long winter's nap. The consistency of the storage temperature is key; it must remain above freezing but be cool enough to keep us dormant. Check on us once or twice during the winter. If we appear to be shriveling, a *very* light misting of the storage medium can provide moisture, but too much will cause us to rot—a fate far worse than dryness.
If we have spent our summer gracing your containers, our needs are simpler. Once our foliage has died back, you can move our entire pot to a cool, dark, and dry location for the winter. Cease all watering. Let the soil become completely dry. There is no need to dig us up; we are already contained. The pot itself becomes our protective shell. A garage, shed, or cool basement is perfect. A brief, light watering may be needed in very early spring to signal us to break dormancy and begin our new growth cycle.
