PlantFiles: Double Flowering Tuberose, Rajanigandha
Polianthes tuberosa 'The Pearl'

While the foliage and flowers are pretty the scent alone is worth having this plant. The scent is stronger and travels farther at night. I can smell them throughout my yard in the evening.

They start to bloom here in zone 8b in early October. They go dormant in the winter here and come up a little later than most plants in the spring. The foilage is only about 1 foot tall but the flower spikes are about 3 feet tall. The flower spikes surprised me in how long they take to finally bloom. It seemed like weeks before I finally got to see the blooms for the first time. The plant sends the stalk up and then the buds slowly form. They get bigger and bigger everyday and just when you think something is wrong the buds start to open from the bottom one at a time over the span of a couple of weeks. Well worth the wait.

I live in Frederick, MD and planted these tubers in late May. I tried three locations: one that gets afternoon sun only, another that gets mid-day sun, and one that gets sun from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. (This was because I'd been given conflicting advice as to where to plant them.) The latter planting (mid-morning to mid-afternoon sun) gave the best results: healthy foliage with flowers starting about two weeks ago (early Sept.). The mid-day (only) planting has no flowers, but healthy foliage. The afternoon-sun planting has also flowered and appears healthy. The scent has not been strong during daylight, but I haven't been home in the evening to check out the scent then. The flowers are ivory and waxy, and the scent, while pleasant, is like a heavy perfume. I did notice that during August, all three locations showed signs of wilting during a brief heat wave. I'd been told they were drought-tolerant, but that was not my experiecne. I'm hoping they survive their first winter is I mulch them heavily. As a "control" group, I will lift a few and replant in late spring.

This plant has lovely, highly fragrant flowers. It is moderately drought tolerant. Unluckily though, it hates wet feet. We had severe torrential raining and flooding (42 days- longer than Noah had to deal with.) Despite being in a well drained planter on a pedestal, my tuberoses got mild root rot. Surprisingly, they still bloomed! Fragrance and flower size were somewhat reduced though.

I've dug, cleaned and dipped the tubers in Clorox to kill fungi and will try again. If the weather gets wet, I'll put a Hefty bag over the planter!

upon adding manure to a new flower bed, a clump of lilly-looking leaves appeared-----tuberose!! & NO idea how they got there. when blooming, they fill the evening w/hypnotic sweet scent--very stong. the oil is very expensive & lore has it, if a young woman smelled the tuberose's scent, she would be romantically inclined !!! i will separate the expanding clumps after blooming this year as they have spread wonderfully. we'll get to enjoy their scent all over the yard!

This plant is very showy and fragrant. I grow it in containers and take to the basement in the winter. Water once a month and move outdoors in the spring!

'The Pearl' produces 2-5 flower stems per plant, with 20 or more double, rose-like, creamy white, flowers on a stem.

Lots of tubular, super fragrant, white blossoms with incredibly thick, waxy substance bloom on top of stems.

If the bulbs are planted in the spring, they bloom in late summer. However, where they can overwinter, they bloom in early summer and the flowers last an exceptionally long time.

Bulbs can be started indoors for early bloom. A Victorian favorite; used pre-1600s