Sow the seeds as soon as the ground is fit to work in the spring, making a drill 5 inches deep. Sow thickly and cover with 2 inches of earth. When the plants have made 2 or 3 inches’ growth above the earth, fill the drill nearly full, leaving a slight depression in which water may be caught. After the soil is thoroughly soaked with water, a good mulch will hold the moisture. To have the ground ready in early spring, it is a good plan to trench the ground in the fall. The top of the soil then dries out very quickly in spring and is left in good physical condition.
In the middle and southern states the seed may be planted in fall, particularly in lighter soils.
Frequent syringing with clear water will keep off the red spider that often destroys the foliage, and attention to picking the seed pods will lengthen the season of bloom. If the finest flowers are wanted, do not let the plants stand less than 8 to 12 inches apart.
A succession of sowings may be made at intervals through May and June, and a fair fall crop secured if care is taken to water and mulch; but the best results will be secured with the very early planting. When the plants are watered, apply enough to soak the soil, and do not water frequently.
Swainsona.—This plant has been called the winter sweet pea, but the flowers are not fragrant. It makes a very desirable house plant, blooming through the late winter and early spring months. The blossoms, which resemble those of the pea, are borne in long racemes. The foliage is finely cut, resembling small locust leaves, and adds to the beauty of the plant, the whole effect being exceedingly graceful. Swainsona may be grown from seed or cuttings. Cuttings taken in late 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 usually requires more heat and a longer season than are commonly present 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, afterwards sparingly, till the leaves have made considerable growth. These plants may be turned out into the open ground the last of May or in June, and will probably flower in early September.