Gardenia Care in Southern California

I am considering using Gardenias as a light shade underplanting beneath trees in my back garden. I love the scent, and think they are attractive plants. I know I have heard that we have some problems with them here in California -any heads ups I should know about? I am prepared to give them regular garden sulfur to keep the soil acidic, and will plant high and mulch well. Before I invest in about nine one-gallon containers, are there any caveats? My soil is pretty clayey, but I can amend it with compost (as I always do).

Any help will be appreciated!
Thanks,
Jeff

[Pic from DG]

How hot does it get in Pasadena? I have had very little luck with gardenias--I usually kept them in pots because of the pH thing but even with that I've had very little luck. When I lived a little north of here in a (very slightly) more mild climate, I was able to keep them happy in a pot on the north side of my house which was shaded by a huge tree (got a little dappled morning sun and that was it, and because of the north facing and shade from the tree and the house it always felt at least 10 degrees cooler in that area than anywhere else in the yard). On the other side of my house I had a covered patio so plants there got about the same amount of sun as the north side, but the temperature was hotter since it faced south, and they never did well there. Here at my current house I have yet to find an area that I can keep them happy. My advice would be buy one or two and see how they do for the next year, then this time next year if they're still alive and happy then invest in buying the others.

I have problems with them also and yet know of plants that thrive in certain conditions I wouldn't have tried. My mother's house in La Mirada had a very large, quite old gardenia on the west side of her house....full afternoon sun. A house a mile from here has one...old, established, done well on the east side of the house, full morning sun. I seem to remember reading that they want quite a drop in temperatures, surprisingly from night to day temps to perform well and do better for this reason not being under the eaves of the house...go figure. Good luck. Right now I have a large 'Mystery' in a pot and am wondering where I should place it......

I don't know about them needing a temperature drop--they do fine in other parts of the country where the humidity is high and they don't have anywhere close to the nighttime temperature drops that we have. The one gardenia that I had luck with was under the eaves of my house, so if you've got a spot that you think would be good for it otherwise I wouldn't hesitate just because of that. The only reason under the eaves might not be too good is if you have a concrete foundation it can leach lime in to the soil.

I remember they grew fine in Santa Ana, but die out when it gets too hot here. Hope that helps.
WIB,
SW

Thanks for your insight. It is interesting that Sunset claims they need heat, but prefer to be partially shaded. It bakes here in the summer - though last summer was unusually hot - is it over yet?

It seems they either like their placement or not. I like ecrane's advice about buying a couple and see how they like it. I have a feeling they may not like our dry heat - and prefer the more humid Deep South. Down there, the night temps don't drop so much, and the humidity is legendary . . .

I hope I can have at least one!

Thanks again for your sage advice!

Jeff

I think when they say they need heat, they probably mean if you live in San Francisco where a hot summer day is 70 degrees you need more heat than that (although I am pretty sure I've seen some over in SF doing just fine) But here where it gets over 90 on a regular basis and can get well over 100 during a heat wave I think that's a bit much for them. If you're somewhere in between those two extremes you may have much better luck with them than I have. I do think it is the combo of dry and heat which is bad for them--on the fragrant gardening forum there've been some people who grow them in the southeast who say they plant them in full sun and they do great.

Hi,
I would spend the extra money and buy grafted Gardenias....they are alot more tolerant of our water and soil. Gardenias basically want heat and humidity. They also need acidic conditions....basically everything Southern California gardens are lacking with our alkali soils and tap water. I have 10 grafted Gardenias of assorted varieties thriving in my garden. They are in full sun and are planted in well amended beds. I live in Vista where it is often over 90 F for days at a time. Another option is planting Gardenia thunbergia...it is from South Africa and does great in Southern California. It is one of those plants that initially may not bloom much but now after 5 years it has blooms for most of the year.

Hi, Andy.....mine is grafted and came from the nursery that Andy is working at right now. For those of you who don't know, Andy and Tom had their own specialty nursery in Vista but are currently planning on moving to Hawaii, then we can hear lots more from him about what they're growing there.....
I wondered about this, since I've seen gardenias in full sun at Plant World in Escondido which gets strong sun and heat. So....today I'm going to look around again for the 'right' spot for my gardenia. Thanks for the info.

Hi,
I should have mentioned a source for grafted Gardenias...locally the only grower of grafted Gardenias that I know of is Monrovia Wholesale Nursery...they supply lots of nurseries around the state. I actually got all of my Gardenias from Top Tropicals in Florida...their prices and quality are excellent and a much better deal than Monrovia and their sometimes inflated prices! Check them out.

Andy

PS...ENJOY THE RAIN!!!!

Hmmm...now I wonder if the one gardenia I had that did well was from Monrovia and the others were from other growers, maybe it had nothing to do with the "magical" location I found for it. I never really paid attention to what grower the gardenias came from.

I've gotten plants from Top Tropicals before and have had good luck with them but I'm surprised by the time you add shipping on top of the cost of the plants that you come out ahead--I'll buy things from them when I can't find them locally but for things that I can find locally the shipping cost for their plants usually makes the local source come out cheaper (even if it's an expensive grower like Monrovia).

Hi,
I can't speak for Top Tropicals current prices, but when I purchased all of my Gardenias from them it was a savings of about $20.00 per plant compared to buying locally as they were having a special on them. For that kind of savings whatever I paid for in freight was mute. Then again I was buying at least 100 plants from them so freight wasn't really an issue...I think I got some sort of deal. It seems with alot of these mail order places if you are only buying a few items, the freight ends up being more than the purchase price of the plants.

Mulch, mulch, mulch......

Guess maybe I need to order more plants from them next time! LOL Usually when I order it's anywhere from 1-10 plants and the shipping cost is typically in the range of $10-20 per plant depending on how big the plant is, so even if the plant was one of their super discount specials it rarely saves me money on something that I could find locally.

Just out of curiosity, Andy - what is the rootstock to which they are grafted? Is it the thunbergia, as you mentioned above?

Hi,
Yes, it is G. thunbergia that is the rootstock. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Andy

I'm gone for a week and look what happens! See what you started J.man?
Ok, now I'm excited since Andy wrote in. I think they'd be happy in my green house. Conditions are described above which leads to me to think I can have some fragrant Gardenia's. Sigh!
: ) I've been dreaming about them for years! Tried them in several outside locations with no luck. Will check into the grafted ones too. Thanks for all the info, folks!
WIB,
SW

Yes, I've now figured out where my 'Mystery' is going and .....it's in bud! Geez, I love the scent of gardenias, I can hardly wait.

I'm so jealous! : ) Someday . . .
WIB,
SW

Well, if you buy one now, it will most likely be in bud also....Christmas is comin', you know.

Must check out the local nurseries, even if I have to pay more! The thought that I could finally grow them here . . . AHHH!
Now if I can get a hold of some tuber roses? I probably have that wrong, but they do have a delightful scent. I love my jasmine and my honeysuckle and my 4 O'Clocks for their scent too. Then there is mint, and sage. You went and got me started. Speaking of Honeysuckle, my Cape Honeysuckle finally bloomed last week. Sending Pic. It's so pretty!
WIB,
SW

The hummers love the Cape Honeysuckle...and it's so tough, drought tolerant. And so responsive...as soon as I water it, it flowers.

Good! My hummer friends have food to eat. The Cape h.suckle has never looked so good. I think that it takes them more time to get established where I live. They did produce these beautiful blooms after I watered during our unseasonable heat wave.
UMMM! Ya know when I said someday I'd get me some Gardenia's? Well I guess that day was today! : - )
I went to HD with DH, and they had them on sale. So I snuck one (okay 3) into the cart. Tee Hee! You are such a bad influence wcgypsy! : - ) DH was playing with all the Christmas toys. I got him the Bell Wreath.
Am sending a photo of the one that was blooming. The rest are all getting ready to bloom.
WIB,
SW

oooh...and you got one already blooming! Just seeing that photo makes me able to smell it.

I hope my nose gets unclogged soon so I can smell it! I have allergies to our Pine Christmas Trees, so my nose is stuffed up this time of year, and when they put out their pollen in the spring! So happy I found some gardenias. Will probably be able to smell them when more start blooming. : )
WIB.
SW