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May 2005

gardenias perfume the garden

May 19 2005

gardenias perfume the garden

Written by Jungle Jim

Thursday, 19 May 2005

It is interesting why people have so much trouble with gardenias. Here in the Central Valley they perform at their best. People plant them in too much shade and they over water them. Contrary to most people’s belief, gardenias enjoy the heat. In fact they sulk in cool climates. In addition to that they enjoy sun. Because gardenias like the same soil conditions as azaleas and camellias people think they like shade. In fact they need at least some sun and in most cases they do well in full sun. Gardenias do not like to be kept wet. In fact it is important that they dry out at least partially before watering ag ain.

For the best results plant gardenias in at least half day sun in areas with good drainage. They enjoy a rich organic soil so we recommend a full 2 cu ft bag of eureka Planting mix per gardenia. In addition to proper planting they do well with azalea camellia fertilizer supplemented with Iron Plus.

We carry the large flowered Mystery that grows to about 5’ tall and wide\. August Beauty is a more compact plant to about 4’ with lots of slightly smaller flowers. Veitchi is more compact with again smaller flowers but in great profusion.

In addition to these regular varieties we carry white star gardenia with a single star shaped flower on a very compact plant to about 12” +. We also carry tow ground cover growing forms one with green foliage and one with white and green variegated foliage.