Are you a tuber grouper? Or maybe a tuber cougar? Or maybe a tuber goober?
Whatever the case. It's fall and it's time to start planting.
Tubers and rhizomes both grow from swollen portions of underground plant stems. Tubers can grow in any direction. They are connected to the original stem by new stem-like off-shoots called stolons. While rhizomes grow horizontally and sprout new growth along the underground stem. They both like to grow near the surface of the soil. These swollen structures function as a food and energy storage system. They store nutrients for the plant to use during dormancy and promote new, healthy growth in spring. Tubers have a high starch and nutrient content, that is why they are grown as food.
Tubers usually have thin skin and produce nodes and buds or what we know as eyes, all over their surface. Tubers can be cut up into many different pieces, with each piece bearing at least two nodes, and planted individually to create new plants that will be exact replicas of the parent plant. As tubers mature, new tubers may form from their roots and stems.
Some common tuber plants include:
Anemone spp. (Windflower), Caladium (Elephant Ear), Manihot esculenta (Cassava), Helianthus tuberosus (Jerusalem Artichoke/Sunchoke), Pachyrhizus erosus (Jicama), Solanum tuberosum (Potato), Ranunculus spp. (Buttercup), Begonia x tuberhybrida (Tuberous Begonia), and Dioscorea spp. (Yam).
There are several types of underground storage system structures we call plants.
Tuberous Roots like the Ipomoea batatas (Sweet Potato) and Dahlia grow from a swollen root not a swollen stem.
Corms have rough skin and fibrous covering. They reproduce by creating daughter corms (cormels). Examples are: Cyclamen (sowbread), Crocus, Gladiolus, Taro and the Amorphophallus konjac (Voodoo Lily).
Rhizome examples are Iris germanica (German Bearded Iris), Zantedeschia aethiopica (Calla), Bambusoideae (Bamboo), Zingiber officinale (edible Ginger and Musa spp. (Banana).
Bulbs have layers or scales of dormant leaves. Allium spp. (Garlic), Amaryllis (Naked Lady), Narcissus (Daffodil), Hyacinth, Tulip fall into this group.
Whichever type you choose to plant this fall. I hope the flowers bring you joy.