I have, over the years collected both Gardenias and Jasmine. It is a toss up between the two especially if you are propagating and selling as I am which gives me more pleasure.
I have noticed the gardenias seem to thrive in the East Windows, or the East side of the Greenhouse. As do the Jasmine. With the exception of Aimee, and Aimee loves sun and plenty of water. I have at least 24 new cuttings that are in the hot afternoon side of the greenhouse and they are sitting in flats with water in the bottom. It has taken me two years but I now have been able to propagate cuttings of the Frostproof too. I think it must have been an accident, but it happened.
I started me in water and some in soil.
The new African is blooming but the blooms only last a day. (I need someone to tell me if that is a true gardenia). The Gardenia Diamonds Fragrant Delight has the biggest shiny leaves, looks almost like the leaves of the Taitensis. The Frostproofs are resting just now. I know so little about these wonderful plants and I am just too old to remember what I do know, but what I can guarantee about both gardenias and Jasmine is that if given lots of TLC and music, they thrive. Oh yes, the music can vary. Country is their favorite, but they will do well with some of my old Big Band tunes and other oldies. LOL...Hugs to all. JB
My love for gardenias!
Thank you for that information! lol I have some country lying around here somewhere. lol I don't have many but I may have to hunt for some to grow indoors. I don't have many plants indoors because I did have cats. They are gone now and I don't get much light in my house. So what windows That I can put plants in is limited, but not impossible.
Darla
I have some great peace lilies and Christmas Cactus that will grow without too much sun.
The Peace Lily needs only light and they are wonderful house plants. Spiders do not need much sun. Some I have get just northern exposure and no sun. If you want to try any, Dmail me privately and I will send you some babies to try. No charge. JB
Hey JB - I don't have an answer but a question. With the weather turning colder it's "that" time of year when I bring in all my tropicals. Problem is that my 'Aimee' has fuzzy white patches - almost reminds me of mealies (that I use to battle with my cactus collection) - is this something you've had issue with and if so...what the heck do you use on it. I don't want this thing dying before I even bring her in...nor do I want her "spreading" stuff to my other plants???? Help please, my friend!!
Chantell, I have never had a problem with anything on Aimee except mealie twice and the oil and soap took care of it. I also hose her down daily...in the greenhouse of course.
It is so difficult with all the rain we have had to keep these babies healthy. I have mealie in the house, so I bring in lady bugs from the swarms outside and let them eat away. LOL
Cheaper than spraying all the time, besides they are in the bird area and I can not spray just anything in there. Why not give her a good hosing down and spray her and then bring her in. Can you use alcohol on the spots or are there too many. I was so lucky I brought things in early and it was alot more work inside, but at least I saved the important plants. Good Luck. Miss you guys. It has been quiet.
JB what type of soap - Murphy's Oil or what works for you?
I use Dawn or Joy. Both work and of course Neem Oil. I get my oil from Logees. Have you decided if it is Mealie? I would look it up on the internet and see if there are different types. That may sound crazy, but it could be. Maybe there will be a suggestion how to kill them. If I had time I would do that but this is so crazy here due to the time of year.
Nope...I'll go pick up some dish soap and I already have my neem...gotta get this under control ASAP so I can bring her in...
Wonder if that mix works on scale???? The only plants still out...are the 3 w/scale and the gardenia w/mealies
I do not know what scale looks like. I feel really stupid. Is there a picture of it someplace?
I would not know if I had it under these circumstances. Not good.
hey JB....you may have addressed this already but what is the minimun temp where a gardenia will still be happy? (as in flower, if it already has buds) Will it prefer my upstairs bedroom which gets down to 50 at night? Or the living room which can be quite a bit warmer. Both have full wall south windows. (I don't have east or west windows!)
Downstairs right now I have a tuberose blooming and upstairs I have a lemon tree and Daphne blooming! :)
Thanks!
I have had my GH get down to 50 and all seems well, but my gardenias seem to be pretty flexable. I would give it a try upstairs if you want it up there, and see if it looks like it is shutting down......buds taking long to open, etc. I personally like my gardenias where I am because they are my favorites . I prefer the warmer living room window if possible.
Gardenia Aimee babies are getting big, they are in 6 inch pots now. Beautiful healthy plants. Started in water. I have them up on ebay.
I have bad luck with gardenia's. I have one Frost Proof that so far is doing well in its pot outside. All the others have died
Darla
JB...you mean you just took a cutting and stuck it in water?
Not that I doubt you are up to this!
Dabney, YES....I always have cut flowers in the house. When the Aimee gardenia blooms, I cut a bloom , put it in water and change the water frequently and when the flower dies, I remove the flower (I let it get really brown) and put the stem in a glass container on the East window and keep the water fresh. In several weeks I have small roots. If I get the container too full, I will just stick them in a starting soil and start them that way, but most of them root before I decide to plant them.
I also have started Anthurium in water. That is a bit more difficult finding a cutting to do that, but I have finally done it.
Have a great day.
Hello everyone, it has been over a month since I spoke to you, but I have had a really busy Holiday Season and with the too many inches of snow and the brutal freezing cold, I have just been trying to stay well and alive.
Speaking of being alive, I have a problem, Chantell.......anyone.....help
I have two Gatdenia jasminoides 'Fortuniana' stock plants and have just started, late fall to have several cuttings take hold. All was going well until about three days ago, I went to check and water the plants in the sun/bird room and the one stock plant was wilted. I quickly watered it, never thinking it was anything other than the humidity and heat in the house drying it out, but God forbid, it is dying. I gave it peroxide, and now I am just waiting to see what is wrong. I am afraid it is gone and I am just sick about it. I could not see any insects, so it must be in the soil. Any suggestions? JB
JB - sorry for the delay...I had to put my bestest girl (10 1/2 yr old Rottie) down last week and I've not been on. Not that I would have been any help to you - you KNOW you know about gardenias and keeping them boogers alive much better then I!! Anything else other then the wilting of leaves to give you any idea??? Mealies - spider mites????
White flies also.They are the worst on mine. You might want to spray daconil(SP)in the ground for fungus.Some times rotting tree roots can contaminate the soil.I lost ALL my daphnies to that monster. Mike
Chantell, so sorry about your DF. It took me longer to get where I could function. Mike
This message was edited Feb 4, 2010 6:16 AM
Chantell , I am so sorry for your loss. I have a constant companion named Barney who is a 12 year old Jack Russell (large size) who has a pancreatic problem and I know anyday I will have to do the same thing. It is heartwrenching. Eveerytime I have to do this I say I will never get another, but I always do. My love and hugs to you. JB
I will work it out with these little buggers, whatever they are and I wil let you know.
I am happy. On Valentine Day I had two beautiful surprises. My gardenia 'Diamonds Fragrant Delight' was blooming. What a wonderful fragrance.
My other surprise was my April Tryst Camellia, a real beauty just 3 years old and all the buds are ready to pop. It drinks water like an elephant and needs some sunshine to be in full bloom. We have had snow and clouds for weeks and this is the only thing that keeps me from going over the edge. Two blizzards in two weeks, you get the picture.
I finally shipped plants today for the first time since January. Snow and below freezing temps made February impossible to take chances of starter plants to be shipped. My Aimee starters are beautiful and now I saw Mealie Bug on them yesterday. I have orders to ship and now that the weather is o.k. I will not ship with Mealie. &^%$#@$%*&^$
Can you imagine what I am thinking? They are perfect plants, brilliant green leaves, some buds, and about 8 inches tall. What next? Here I sit with them. I bought ladybugs to put in the greenhouse to see if they will take care of it if the neems and soap does not work. I hate Winter.
I feel like a new Mother.....................the Aimee Gardenia babies are beginning to bloom.
To me I am so thrilled to have propagated them back in August by cuttings and I have been selling them as starter plants. The older ones have had buds and then we had that awful storm that blew the greenhouse apart and I was sure I would loose them. We carried all twenty some of them in to the house and back out after the repairs were completed. They then got mealy bug really bad because I bought 1500 lady bugs to eat the bugs two weeks before the storm and they all blew away in the storm too. Not a good year for me and my darling gardenias. Anyhow, today my first baby bloomed.
Chantell......how is yours doing? After 60 inches of snow, 10 inches of rain and five nor'easters I am sure glad to see the sunshine and warmer temps. Hope you all have a wonderful summer. Hugs. JB
Ahhhh JB...late in responding...not been on for a bit...HOW are YOU my friend
JB, how large will the Diamonds fragrant delight get?
The leaves look a little different from the standard So. Gardenia, that is so plentiful down here. I Think I would like that number. Mike
My Diamond is about 15 inches tall and growing. It is about to bloom again. I want to wait until after it blooms and then take some cuttings and see if I can start some of them. The stems are like tree limbs....really not a pretty plant but the flowers are so beautiful.
Have you done any research on this particular gardenia? Try looking in DG or Top Tropicals or even Logees. I would be interested in knowing more myself, but just now I am too busy to think about it.
Chantell....honey where have you been. I have really been worried. Things are picking up. People are spending money on the crazierst little plants and paying twice as much to have them shipped. The Southwest USA seems to be wanting tropicals and tender perennials. I am gettng a shipment of a few different begonias today. I want to try my luck with them. My Aimees are so big. I still have a few for sale, but if they get too big I will not ship them. They are like rabbits, wow, I seeldom loose a cutting and they grow and grow. I even took cutting off of the babies I trimmed and they all grew. I will be giving them away soon. LOL. What are you growing ? Anything I would like?
Hellooooo Mike!!!
JB - ohhhh to have your skill w/Gardenias!! I tell you...if they have to come indoors - they just don't thrive for me. I've resigned myself to only keeping the hardy ones...just cant' keep throwing $$ away. I knew better last year - yet tracked down an Aimee...yup...she's no longer "with us." Is your Diamond hardy??? My 'Shooting Star' made it through this tough winter we had...she's putting on all kinds of new growth now. If you'd like some cuttings from her (a few at least...she's about 3' tall now...I've had her for about 4 yrs) after she blooms let me know. I've been so busy between the new job and my side job...I've not yet went to inspect my back yard. Front yard looks beautiful though...w/everything in bloom....lavender, mock orange, dianthus...lily of the valley, Persian Lilac, daphne, and korean spice have all done blooming now. The lilies are coming up now...just all kinds of color every where...oh and my nicotiana has blessed me with reseeding in a few places....ahhhh life is good.
Hi my dear gardenia lovers.........................My daughter came home from the Acme today with another Aimee Tree. OhMyGod! I must have 50 babies now growing, some are in 6inch pots others just hanging out in tiny pots to learn how to be big girls. I can not believe you lost yours, Chantell. Mine lived in the Greenhouse all winter with all kind of temperature changes, one blizzard that torn down the back end and doors and top of the greenhouse, she still stands tall, almost 6 ft. now and growing. Now that I have another for stock, I am going to let her bloom and live out the summer without taking more cuttings from her, then this fall she will be put into a very large container if I can find one and go back into the greenhouse. I am going to limit my cuttings this year to begonias, christmas cactus and gardenias and Jasmine. Peace lilies sell like crazy, any of you guys selling them in pots, let me know so I can refer my customers to you. I am almost out of stock. One woman wanted 8, another 7 and I had to turn them down. I am not set up to ship anything mre than three at a time. I am not going to start that large order crap or I will kill myself for sure.
I would love to have a cutting of your shooting star. Do you want any Christmas Cactus or goldfish plant. Those are pretty hard to kill, especially wohen you are working two jobs. Been there and done that and it is not fun. But life is good and we are allso lucky to have each other and our plants. I am going to send you a private dmail Cantell. I need some advice.
JB - I wrote you back. Remind me later about the cuttings...gotta wait to get some blooms from my baby :) this year. You're sweet re the Christmas Cactus and goldfish plant...I keep most plants alive...it's just the Gardenias if I bring them indoors...very sad. No need to send me those...you know me gotta have fragrant ones...and I have my quota of Christmas Cactus' incl the one from my grandmother who passed 16 years ago....I treasure that one in particular.
I am going to try cuttings on the one little plant I have which grows like a weed. It is a houseplant, has a wonderful aroma, tiny pink flowers and is called
Mitriostigma axillare "African Gardenia" I have not yet taken cuttings but it is ready and I am going to give it a try. If it works you my friend will have some if you do not already.
I have the African gardenia, and it bloomed Nov., Dec., and part of Jan.
I moved it outside, and plan to get it in, around Oct.The blooms it had were very fragrant, but mild. I have a very fragrant gardenia, in bloom now, and hope I can work it in with my shade garden.I will have to put it where it can get morning sun, I'm sure. Mike
Mike, how big is your African gardenia.? This thing keeps growing and I am wondering how big it will get. It has bloomed constantly with no time to rest. I was waiting for it to stop so I could repot it and take some cuttings. I finally repotted it and now it is blooming again so I hesitate to cut. Have you taken any cuttings from it. What gardenia do you have blooming now that is so fragrant. Do you have an Aimee? Would you like to have one? Look it up on DG it is a Gardenia Jasminoides 'Aimee'.....it is a wonderful plant and so easy to propagate. If you would like to have one I will see you get it , gift from the old lady. I have so many just now and more coming. I would love to share one with you.
Only problem, Aimee likes pretty much sun, at least mine does and most places I read about her it says full sun. Lots of water. Let me know.
Is this Aimee? I have a garden cat that likes to help, and he colects markers, and this one is missing. I am bound, and determined to find out what I have. Is this Picture valad? If it isn't Aimee, then I would really love one. Mike
This message was edited May 17, 2010 7:56 PM
I bought it last fall, and was going to plant it in a garden area, just off the porch, and I no longer have the info, because it was on the tag. Mike
Garden cat "Baggy"
I am concerned about my African Gardenia, I have had it in a garden window, and it had plenty of light, and bloomed some. Maybe I need to repot, because it is not much bigger than when I got it.Still gree, but the leaves are starting to wrinkle, or twest.I need to read up on them. Mike
Mike - JB's got "the touch" - just like you!!
JB - I'd love some if you get them rooted, my friend....maybe with your touch I can keep em alive!!!
http://toptropicals.com/html/toptropicals/articles/shrubs/gardenia.htm
Mike, take alook at this link and you will see two gardenias one the Tiare Tahiti and the Gardenia White Gem. I think you have the White Gem. What do you think. Chantell, do you want to help us ID his baby?
I printed out that entire article just for this reason, to try and ID some plants without markers.
Later today I will try and do some research on the AFrican. I need to know when I can take cuttings without harming it. Talk later.
My African Gardenia has been doing better, since I moved it out in the sun.It looks like it will bloom again, soon, and starting to grow.Mike
This unkown has me baffled.The two that are very similar, have only five points in the center. Mine has six, very prominant points, to the point, that I noticed them first off.I did not get a picture of the bloom, and it may be too late, but if I can, I will. Mike
The more I thumb, back, and fourth, the more I believe it is the latter of the two pictured.Can't remember the name, but could have written it down. It blooms in mass, and all at once. Mike
This message was edited May 22, 2010 4:27 PM
