Polyanthes tuberosa Super Gold

Polianthes tuberosa 'Super Gold' is part of a new line of hybrid tuberoses with equally divinely scented, single or double flowers with unprecedented colours ranging from pale yellow to pink.  'Super Gold' is a new cultivar with single, curiously tubular, true yellow flowers for our terraces and gardens. The plant blooms in late summer, in the form of a long spike laden with flowers that will often need to be staked. It is frost-sensitive and requires a sunny and warm exposure as well as fertile and moist soil during the growth period. It is therefore best grown in pots in most regions and brought indoors for the winter. 

Polianthes tuberosa is native to Mexico, more specifically the surroundings of Mexico City, which has a subtropical climate without frost, characterised by a dry season from November to May, and a rather rainy summer season (from June to mid-October). This plant is becoming rare in its natural environment and generally grows in sandy but humus-rich, well-drained soils with high organic matter content. Adapt the cultivation method to suit our climates.

'Super Gold' is a recent horticultural hybrid, obtained at the University of Taiwan. This cultivar is derived, among others, from Polianthes tuberosa La Perle and Polianthes howardii, a robust Mexican species with tubular flowers of variable colour. All these plants belong to the agavaceae family (or asparagaceae according to the classification). They are perennial tuberous plants and each plant only blooms once, having taken care to ensure its offspring by producing several small tubers that will bloom two to three years later. 'Super Gold' develops a rosette of basal foliage composed of long, narrow, flat, deciduous, light green leaves. They can measure up to 40 cm (16in) long and 1.5 cm (1in) wide. From the centre of the rosette, a flower stalk emerges in summer which can reach 70-80cm (28-32in) high. From August onwards (or September depending on the region), it bears a spike composed of several dozen bright yellow flowers, close to golden yellow. These gradually open from bottom to top and form wax-like tubular corollas that curl backwards and form a small star-shaped cup. Their powerful fragrance is present both day and night and also lasts for some time if you cut it for a vase.

Tuberous plants prefer bright and warm environments, they are frost-sensitive and do not like cold weather. Few of us will be able to grow them in open ground and will have to dig them up anyway to spend the winter in a dry place at a minimum temperature of 10°C (50°F). Growing them in pots will therefore be more practical, placed in the sun or in the conservatory where they will reveal their powerful fragrances. Some of us will be able to grow them in open ground in a small bed or rockery, against a background of nepetas for example, near the terrace to enjoy their beauty and exceptional perfume. Polianthes tuberosa is now cultivated in India for the cosmetics and perfumery industry. Its unique fragrance is used in the composition of several major perfumes.