Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Finally- Success with Gardenias
I cannot recall how many times I have failed when it comes to growing gardenias. We moved to our current home last July- there was very little done in relation to landscaping -seriously, seriously lacking. This March I decided to give gardenias another try- purchased two Southern Living Jubilation Gardenias and amended the soil. By April they started developing many little buds and early May - I began my daily inspection to check on their progress- no whitefly, no burning or dropping off of buds- all good signs. The buds swelled to a fairly good size and then stopped, I patiently waited their opening and was rewarded with their sweet smelling blooms yesterday for the very first time-kinda felt like I was their mother!!! The plant is reported to bloom again later this fall- we will see if that happens. Noticed at the nurseries this past weekend that they had sold out of all the jubilation varieties - but had plenty August Beauty, Dwarf, Radicans and Frost Proof types-just the fact that I can recall those varieties off of the type of my head should give you an idea about the number of times I have tried unsuccessfully to grow these beauties- hopefully I am not speaking too soon. Would love to see them get established as well as those at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama-just love walking their grounds and seeing the beautiful landscapes they have cultivated.
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Oh Alecia, does this ever bring back memories of FL!!! I had 2 HUGE gardenia bushes on either side of the doors out of my lanai & pool area. They were HEAVENLY!! I used to float one single bloom in my Mother's antique footed bowl.
ReplyDeleteDH remembers buying his date gardenia corsages for prom. (long before I was even born!) LOL
I'm glad yours are finally blooming for you.
I do remember that some bloom earlier than others. My neighbor's bushes would be full of blossoms weeks before mine & hers would die off about the time mine opened up. We shared our blossoms so we could enjoy the fragrance for a longer span of time.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane!