Gardenia Help

I have bought potted gardenia plant 6 months ago from Home Depot. The first bud of the plant came up 4 months ago. But still now that bud is not blooming. It seems like the bud is in hibernation. It isn't growing but the bud looks totally healthy. So I want to ask that is it normal for gardenia bud to take a long time to bloom or the bud will never bloom and eventually it will drop off?

I have no experience in gardening. So can anyone please help me with some advice.

Are you keeping this as a house plant or outdoors? Describe the setting.

As an outdoor plant where I am (also 9b, but I suspect a lot more humid) Gardenia is an outdoor shrub, thriving in a warm setting that has a good balance of water and allowing oxygen in to the roots. In too shaded a location the foliage gets sparse and it does not bloom. Prefers direct sun for at least half a day.

Hi Diana_K
Thanks for your response.
I live in an apt and I have a west facing patio. I am keeping my gardenia in the patio and the plant is placed in shaded area. So the plant doesn't get any direct sunlight through out the day.
Here the summer is very hot and the temp rises beyond 100f. I don't think my plant can withstand that hight temp. So I have placed the plant in shaded area .
I have attached pictures of my plant so you can see my plant and give me some opinion.

You are right to keep it in more shade with that much heat.
I see the flower buds, they look too small, too young to open. Do they just stay like that? Not growing any more?
What finally happens to them?

If the stem that holds the flower turns dark and the flower drops that could be a sign of a problem.

I am sending you another picture of the bud which came 4 months ago. It was growing up to the size that you can see in the picture. But then it stopped growing or it is growing very slowly that is barely noticeable.
There are more buds in my plant and I don't know whether these buds will bloom or these will also stop growing like the bud in the picture.
I am very new to gardening. I can't understand what is happening to my gardenia.

They look fine, to me. Perhaps just wait a bit, and they may open soon.

I've grown the potted Gardenias. I agree that yours looks fine in the photos.

I hope that the buds will open soon. I am eagerly waiting to see them bloom.

Thanks a lot for your advice. :)

I dont grow Gardenias as outdoor plants, we can only grow these in greenhouse or house and we have to mist them every day to give them humidity, I've never managed to keep a plant longer than about a year, the smell of the blooms are heavenly when they are open, We need to give them rain water when they are growing in a pot and use a compost for acidic loving plants. water from the bottom by sitting on a bowl or basin of water, leave till the soil changes to a darker colour as this indicates the soil is wet enough, drain the pot before setting it back to it's normal situation.

On looking at your plant, the branches are beginning to look long and week indicating maybe the plant required more light, Maybe the way around this could be to move the plant to a lighter area BUT build an overhead shade for the hottest part of the day, Dont pot into a large pot, try use 2 sizes larger when the time comes to repot it.
Other than that I think your plant is very healthy, remember gardening AND plants is a slow genteel hobby and most plants that are hurried along by over feeding are normally failures due to what we call, killed by kindness and not allowing nature to do its job, sometimes plants take a season or two to settle into it's new environment. I know here in UK, growing on a balcony or patio is sometimes more challenging due to the extra heat generated on the flooring, the heat from the building and trying to get the light corrected BUT just take your time and engoy your new hobby.
Best of luck.
Kindest Regards, WeeNel.