How to Grow a Gardenia

Gardenias are lovely shrubs that are popular in warm climates. You can also enjoy their beauty and heady perfume indoors by growing them in a pot. Here are some tips on how to grow a gardenia.

Instructions

1. Gardenias are not only showy plants with glossy green leaves and big white flowers, but the flowers are heavily perfumed. Planting gardenias by the entry or under a window will fill the air with a powerful fragrance. These plants can also be kept as houseplants where the perfume will fill a room.

2. Gardenias are frost shy. They like warm or even hot temperatures during the day but cooler ones at night. In hot-sun areas they appreciate some shade. To form buds the nighttime temperatures must be close to 60' while daytime temperatures must be above 70'F. Otherwise you will have a beautiful evergreen plant with shiny leaves, but no flowers.

3. Because gardenias like warm days and cool nights, they tend to grow well in the warmer parts of Southern California as well as other warmer climates. But most of the soils in Southern California are heavy in minerals and lime rather than acid. If you live where soils are not acidic, your gardenia plants will need lots of peat dug in and regular feeding with an acid plant food. Coastal areas fare best and grow big bushes filled with flowers. In areas where hard water is common, the minerals will neutralize the acid so it will be a bit of a regular battle to keep plants happy. Plants that lack sufficient acid in the soil will have difficulty taking up iron and will appear chlorotic -- developing yellow leaves. Yellow leaves can also be a symptom of over-watering. Watch out for these problems in potted gardenias, too. Soils like azalea mixes and peat will help as will foods like Muracid.

4. With a lot of surface roots, be careful of disturbing them when weeding or cultivating. Mulches work well for gardenias. A layer of bark or compost will keep surface roots cozy and safe. Mulch will also help minimize water evaporation. And it looks neat and attractive.

5. Soil should be kept moist but never wet. Although gardenias like humidity be careful of misting leaves as this sometimes causes an unsightly black fungus to develop. Indoor plants can also get aphids, whitefly or scale. These sucking insects exude a sticky honey-like substance that can also host a black or gray fungus. For indoor culture give gardenias good light without hot, direct sun, good air circulation and that acidic soil they like so much.

6. Outdoors the gardenia can grow from 6 - 8' but is more commonly seen at 3-5'. You can prune your gardenia to shape and this is best done during the winter months when the plant is semi-dormant.

7. For more information on how to grow a gardenia plant, please check the Resources listed below.

Resources

• Garden Love to Know - Gardenias
• AA Florist
• Growing Gardenia info
• General garden design and info.
• Gardenias for sale