Hollah! :D I have almost a dozen 10 yr-old tubers... some as large as small footballs! I dig them up in early November and store them in my cold cellar in paper grocery bags filled with vermiculite, along with my begonia and dahlia tubers (happy family!). I plant them again in late April-early May and have a wonderfully scented hedge growing on either side of our side entrance. The smell is divine in the evening and provide a warm welcome to visitors. They grow easily to 5 ft and are drought tolerant. Morning Glories are planted behind them to climb up the walls. One tiny inconvenience: Mirabilis jalapa (4 o'clocks)produce about a gazillion seeds in the fall, so I almost have to get the shovel out! lol

Wish I had realized the price went down when you buy more,I would have spent a few dollars more & got bunches more :) Very nice rhizomes for the price, some were a bit smallish, but all very healthy. I have one from Horn that hasn't come up yet, but still seems firm when I dug down. I certainly haven't found anything cheaper. I actually ordered mine in the fall, they don't charge your credit card til the order ships, and I noticed that they ran out of a few of the choicer varieties by Feb.

Yeah, it is up to you. I keep some of mine at 3-4 stems because I think they look better, but I am not growing them for competition. Whichever works for you. I will say that you need good air circulation no matter what you choose to go with 1 vs multi-stems. Good uck! Keriann~

Hey there spartan gardener- I actually started mine indoors last winter- out of 4 seeds- 1 grew. I may have waited a bit too long to transplant out of it's pot and into the bed- but really- not that long at all compared to some other seedlings I started... That is the trouble I have with starting sooo many seeds- It is on the south side on the house in pretty much full sun- in a bed with a thick layer of peat and bunny manure. I had wondered if there was too much nitrogen in the manure- which caused so much green growth. It is big and well branched- reaching further than it is tall- and can now say that it has white blossums with crimson/magenta stamen and pistals- I was kinda hopin for the broken colored pink and yellow combo that the swaped for packet said it should be. Such are the surprises of open pollenated hand collected seeds! You really never know what you get- but usually it is still a delight! It is still wonderful to know that I can save the tuber- and maybe be able to collect seed next year- as I doubt any will ripen in time to wintersow this year.