Late summer blooms and other thoughts

Polianthes tuberosa

Upon my return from India, I was greeted with weeds, and lots of them. Most of the plants fared well as we had a lot of rain and milder temperatures than we usually have in Central Virgina at the end of July. Moving all of the potted plants to the back yard under the trees seemed to be the right call also.

The late summer blooms are starting to appear. Tuberoses and Ginger Lilies are blossoming right now, a little early for our area. They usually come out late August, but still seem to be too late to the party and get zapped too soon by colder weather. If we only had another 30-60 days.... oh well. I'll take what I can get.

I love these plants. My wife introduced me to these and other plants whose blooms present us with wonderful scents. Most come from white flowers and are used throughout India and other countries as garlands for puja and other offerings. When in India, we will have the driver stop so I can get some before heading out for long drives, just to smell the wonderful fragrance as we travel around.

hedychium - Ginger Lily

It is hit or miss, it seems, for the tuberoses here. Sometimes we have plenty, sometimes just a single stalk. The Ginger lilies, on the other hand, have been doing quite well for the last several years and are starting to get out of control. They have to be treated like bamboo, which spreads by shooting out rhizomes. It needs to have a barrier set several inches into the ground to stop the spread. I failed to do that on 3 sides and they are spreading into the grass. I guess it could be worse. At least they are growing. Each winter I let the stalks brown up and die. I then cut them back to ground level and cover them with a thick blanket of mulch. So far so good. We did not, however, have much luck with the variegated variety. They didn't make it through the winter.

The last blooms from the Jasmine are still there and one last flower from the gardenia before fall sets in. We will be bringing in lots of cuttings from the Ginger lilies in the next few weeks. The house is going to smell wonderful!

last of the Jasmine...

Polianthes tuberosa