I just brought a beautiful one home from Home Depot. The Texas heat would do it in very quickly. I have it now in an East Window. Sometimes when the weather is ok I take it outside...Like a baby. :) Now, how do gardenias do in Georgia?
Gardenias
They do nicely here. I have August Beauty but they bloom whenever they feel like it.......LOL. So far they have not been bothered by the heat or anything else but I do keep them happy with lots of Ironite every month. They are in full sun until about 1pm.
Where I live they grow huge with no care unless they turn yellow. I have the yellow thing figured out now but the guy next door does nothing to his Gardenias and there huge and bloom like mad. He's got them in full sun and the soil is acidic around here.
Oh I'm relieved. I thought they would really need watchfull care.
It get's up to the hi 90s in the summer here, even in the shade. How about where you all live? Does it get that hot?
I don't know which kind I bought. This is my first venture with gardenias. I'll see if I can find out.
many thanks.
"Now, how do gardenias do in Georgia?"
For me, they don't- lol!
We can hit 100 once in a while but highs in the 90's are the norm for the summer. Lows in the summer are mid 70's.
We planted 3 fairly large Gardenias in morning sun, afternoon shade, two years ago. One has done very poorly, and the other two slowly lost most of their lower leaves. Took the advice of local TV gardener, Walter Reeves, and cut them back severely in March. Two came back great guns, and are looking terrific. The third was just barely hanging on until somebody on the forum suggested iron might be the problem. Gave it some of that and it's slowly making a comeback. I suggest you start with small gardenia plants and save your money! Watch for yellow leaves with green veining, too. If you see that, get some iron for them. Heat is not a problem, it gets hellishly hot here, too. Mine are August Beauty, too, but I don't like the flower form as much as some I've seen, and wish I'd gotten one of the more full flowers. Anybody know a cultivar name?
soup,
I cant even get the small plants to live. Someone here at DGrecently sent me 2 nice little rooted cuttings and already one has died and the other one isn't long for this world.
Gardenias HATE me!
Berrygirl - Don't give up. After all the dry weather this year, I've decided I'm not planting anything with a major root system in the spring again. I think Autumn is definitely the time to plant trees and shrubs, and lots of people on the forum seem to agree. The new stuff I planted this spring is failing, too. The stuff planted in fall is fine. So, hang in--not our fault, darn it--the lack of rain is making it impossible for us to succeed! In the fall, shrubs and trees are going dormant, decreasing water needs even if rainfall is minimal. Even in winter if there's a little warm spell they start to photosynthesize again and use the energy for root growth. I'm told plants have chemical ways of knowing when to put out new growth, and when to use their energy for root growth. Sheila
I actually have a dwarf gardenia in my shade garden, and it's doing well (although it certainly doesn't like a lot of water). It bloomed like crazy about a month ago, then dropped some of its lower leaves, but it's fine now. I agree that these all work better planted in fall.
Well, I put mine outside, full sun in the morning and a shady but HOT afternoon. I wouldn't have bought this now, if I had thought it through. We hope to move to Georgia by the end of this year and I want to bring this plant with me if it's at all possible. It's in a good sized container now and a bigger one is just waiting for it. I think I see buds coming. Here's hoping.
I had picked up some super duper bargain (2.19) August Beauties at McCorkle's plant sale a few weeks ago, and have been keeping them in the semi shaded area of my yard until I got time to plant them. I planted three of them last week, and just planted the other three this am. On opposite sides of the deck, so we'll see which ones do better. Of course, I want them ALL to thrive, my little babies, but I can always move them I suppose if they appear to be suffering. NOW, where to plant that Tea Olive. Hmmm.... speaking of tea, I think I'll have a glass.
Guardians, you will love your tea olive.........plant it close to your deck/patio if you can..........the fragrance should be bottled!!
Does anyone have a Chuck Hayes gardenia? Mine can't seem to take full sun even at 11:00 a.m. so I moved it to a shadier spot (it's in a pot on my deck so it's easy to move) and it's doing better. Is that typical?
It's supposed to bloom all summer and fall if I remember correctly but it's been in a lull for 2 or 3 weeks. Any suggestions?
I actually have three that I bought for a bargain in the spring. They're still in their containers...haven't found the perfect spot yet.
Here's a tip for iron deficiency that I learned somewhere else that I'm going to try. Either put a nail (or two depending on the size) in the ground by the gardenia. Or keep a nail in a water bottle and use it to water iron onto the gardenia when it needs a boost. Just keep refilling and reusing the nail and bottle.
Re: iron deficiency........or, you can feed them regularly with Ironite. Mine have been healthy since starting this. Just add a little to your watering bottle/can.
The leaves are nice and green - no chlorosis here . (Altho I occassionally give it a little iron just for good measure.)
The main problems are heat/sun intolerance even in the a.m. and only 3 or 4 blooms in the last 2 - 3 weeks. It did have a fungus problem but I treated it per advice of our local garden center and that problem is resolved.
I'm thinking abt getting some Superbloom to give it a little boost. What do you think?
i live on saint simons island of the georgia coast and have an enormous gardenia bush/cum tree that just produced over 200 blooms. we have been having near 90 degree days for two months with little rain. i would say gardenias certainly do well in this part of georgia. they do need some watering, periodic pruning and ironite feedings. dooley worth saint simons island
I bought a little gardenia topiary and while it's surviving, it hasn't given up any blooms. The new leaves came out a bit curly at first but straightened out in the end.
Wonder what triggers their blooming? Might try the rusted nail in the waterbottle trick the next time I have an extra container.