Just got a digital camera, and have to use it.
Susan in Minneapolis
gardenia bloom
Boy, am I jealous! I would LOVE to have a gardenia that actually bloomed! I came to the forum to ask a question about my gardenia...I bought it about 2 weeks ago, and it looked perfect. The temp in my house is always between 66-76. I have it in a south-facing window. The soil is moist, but not wet. I was even misting it twice a day. Apparently something is wrong because the flower buds are falling off, the leaves are turning yellow and brown and also falling off. What's up??? Tamara
The leaves yellowing and dropping off sounds like overwatering--I would let it dry out a bit more in between waterings, wait until the soil feels dry when you poke your finger down in the soil a little ways. But if you don't think it's possible that you've been watering it too much, I would start a new thread and post a pic so you can get input on what else it might be.
By Googling, I have read tens of contradictory ideas on growing gardenias, and on what is bad for them. I can't decide how that can be, but the evidence speaks for itself. On my part, my gardenia sits on a radiator all winter in a sun room in an east window, and not far from a south window. I have a deep saucer for it, and water about 1 gallon every other day, filling the pot and saucer every time I water. It starts to set buds in the fall, and then the buds just sit there until the days lengthen and it warms up some. Blooms started about March 1. It spends the summer outside in a pot, where I water it daily.
In Tamara's case, I would guess that the shock of transporting and non-green house conditions cause bud blast. I'd say just give it time, assuming it has no scale insects or white fly, to which they are susceptible.
Susan in Minneapolis
I agree that other things could be causing the bud drop but I'm not sure what else would cause the bottom leaves to yellow and fall off, that is typically a symptom of overwatering and I've never seen my gardenias do that for any other reason than too much water, although I've seen them drop buds on numerous occasions for various reasons.
There might be some truth to the overwatering suggestion for the bud drop. I received a gardenia plant for my birthday about 4 weeks ago, and it was loaded with buds. However, the buds that were almost ready to open dropped. I thought that I was overwatering the plant, and have since only watered the plant when it is slightly dried to the touch. Now, I have a bud that is completely opened!
So, they do recover! I wish you good luck with the plant, for they are such beautiful plants.
I had some gardenias once. I planted them in a sunny spot and found out they got too much sun. I tried to cover them with a screen but it was still to hot for them.
So we replanted them in a shady spot and they did even worse. Last week I had my gardener pull 'em.
I loved them when they bloomed, there's nothing sweeter-smelling than a bunch of gardenias in full bloom.
I have two Gardenia Bushes in my yard. One is located on the NE side of the house, is in Full Sun All Day and last year and blooms like mad every year! When it got to be about 6' tall and 4' wide, I chopped it back ... first time I had heavily pruned the thing in years. It gets litterally hundreds and hundreds of flowers every year. It is blooming right now, which is earlier than usual. It usually doesn't begin blooming until May, but I had a couple of flowers in February and this month it really began blooming ... still not the capacity it will in another month or so. I have another large Gardenia Bush on the SW side of the house and it is in pretty much full shade ... It blooms once during late May, early June. They are two different types of Gardenia's, but I have no idea which. The one in full sun has medium leaves, medium sized flowers while the one in the shade has larger leaves and much larger flowers. Gardenia's are one of my very favorite flowers. I have never had luck growing them inside, so I am glad I live in a climate where they will flourish outdoors!
Lin
I have had 'Daisy' and 'August Beauty' in containers now for 3-4 years. I overwinter them in the GH. Pests are a problem, specifically mealybugs. I had better results this year after using a systemic (imidacloprid, Bayer Advanced Tree and Shrub). Shane Smith, author of The Greenhouse Gardeners Companion, claims that they bloom better watered with warm water. They also seem to like RO or rainwater rather than well or tap water.
I did successfully kill 'Four Seasons' this winter by overwatering. :-(
Here is 'Daisy' a few days past peak bloom.
Oh, I've never heard of the "Daisy" Gardenia! I Love the looks of that! It really does look like little daisies!
Lin
Gardenias grow well here...with LOTS and LOTS of water (150" of rain per year) but/and the soil is really just a lot of lava cinders!!!....very well draining. I also have a bucket in the kitchen where I put old tea, tea bags, coffee grounds, pickle juice and when the bucket is full, I throw it on a bunch of bushes...they love the acid!!!
My ancient Swedish grandmother used to stick raw garlic cloves in the pots of the indoor gardenias when we lived in Virginia...and those puppies bloomed like there was no tomorrow...and they didn't smell of garlic....