I am really thrilled.
Last summer I sited it in the best location on my property, a window well along my foundation with full protection from the north and west, and mulched it over the winter. I had given up on it, and I pulled it a week ago. Ack, it had a green stem at the ground level. I replanted it and carefully watered/fed it. Today it has a lovely little green bud! It survived -8F and a blizzard with mulching.
Good ole fashioned Ohio gardenias. :)))
I cannot wait to try out "Chuck Hayes." :)))
-Joe G.
P.S. My Stephan's Jasmine from Lazy S Farms also made it through the winter with no protection other than planting along an east foundation. My place is gonna smell GREAT. :)
My gardenia jasminoides "Kleim's Hardy" made it!!!
Congratulations! I killed two Kleim's Hardy last year. I knew it was a long shot but I was still heartbroken when they didn't make it. I'm thinking of trying a smaller, low growing type of gardenia in large pots and then just try and overwinter them inside. I'd like to put them in large urns outside the front door for the summer. I think it would look nice on either side of the doorway and would smell heavenly as you walk inside. Do you have any suggestions for a specific variety for me? I'm a Zone 6 with Zone 9-10 lust in my heart!
My Kleim's Hardy was less than a foot tall. I built a cold frame around it (used an old window which I propped against the house, and filled the open end with a hay bale), but by the end of the winter the foliage had all dehydrated and crisped. I hadn't watered it because I didn't want to overwater it and have the roots rot. I thought I had a little gardenia-mummy.
It appears this plant was hardier than I thought. This winter I am just going to mulch it well with leaves. Gardenias die back to their roots in the Piedmont area of South Carolina, but they return every spring. My thinking is if I keep the roots warm enough, the top of the plant can die and I'll still have regrowth from the roots.
I also have some crape myrtles that grow as die-back root-hardy perennials.
This coming winter I want to try to kill a Chuck Hayes, and an Augusta "Frostproof" in other well-sheltered areas.
As for the "right" soil for this gardenia, I see people who fuss and fret over their gardenias. My preparation for this gardenia was to replace the "soil" in the window well with a 75% high quality top soil and compost blend. I water it on a regular basis, and every week or so it gets the bottom of the coffee pot and a scoop of coffee grounds for acid. As for what's wrong, it gets way too much sun in the summer and its area is very hot. It gets leaf burn pretty easy. After a hard rain decades of salt used on the concrete driveway leeches up through its soil and a white crust forms.
It still grows. Last summer I missed a week watering it and it dropped many of its leaves. I started watering it again, it greened up beautifully before the fall. :)
The only thing I can grow in my other window wells is cactus, opuntia humifusa. :)
Go figure.
-Joe
Joe,
I'm thrilled to hear that your gardenia made it! It gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, the hardy gardenia I bought from Logee's might survive the winter. It's had one bloom this spring and it smelled heavenly (it's less than a foot high and I'm sure we were quite the sight on our hands and knees with our butts in the air sniffing it ROFL. And then my husband wanted to know why I snipped the flower and put it in a bud vase)! I'd love to know what a gardenia bush in full bloom smells like. If it doesn't make it, I might try some other types. But I'm not much in to high maintenance plants...if they're borderline hardy, I'll mulch them well and hope for the best. I do have a gardenia house plant that's in a pot outside for the summer. I'm not sure how well it'll do inside, even with a humidity tray. Between our extremely dry house, little good sunlight and the cats, house plants don't do well for me :~) If you get a chance, keep us posted on how your gardenia is doing!
Denise
Joe - how exciting is that?! I, too, am trying to get a few Gardenias to actually live for me!! Seems the hardiness listed for a couple of them varies depending where you read the info at - I can always hope. The only one out of the 5 that looks like it's headed down hill quickly is the August Beauty - thank God for Lowes 1 year guarantee!! Here is the thread that horseshoe answered a lot of my questions. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/725084/
Zville,
I first encountered gardenia bushes in their full glory down in South Carolina. I was walking across the parking lot into a Kroger's, of all places, and this heavenly fragrance hit me. The locals could have played "spot the yankee" with me. All of the sudden this bald guy's nose started twitching, and he sniffed his way across the parking lot to three mundane looking little bushes, about two feet high, kind of burned by the heat, with a few white (and brown) blossoms on it. For two weeks he sniffed the bushes for at least two minutes every time he entered and left the store. Those crazy yankees.
The yankee was me, by the way. :) The gardenias, the mimosas, and the confederate jasmines are among my favorite memories of South Carolina. I have a gardenia bush, a mimosa tree, and a very hardy jasmine. I have potted poet's jasmine, gloriosa lilies, and white ginger lilies. I'm trying out two sabal minor "McCurtain" palms, a needle palm, and Carolina jessamine "Margarita". I am working on bringing the Carolinas to my Ohio home. :)
Chantell, I saw shoe's excellent advice. I was in on that thread too. :) I will be getting some miracid and some fish emulsion. I already have a layer of fresh mulch around the roots to keep the moisture in. On the advice of a friend who used to live in the deep south I also water mine with a diluted coffee solution once a week.
I just love gardenias and things that smell luscious.
-Joe
OMG, Joe...I'm sorry...takes me a bit to get names down pat. Lookin' through you list and nodding with each plant till I hit "a mimosa tree" Hmmmm....what do those smell like? Lord knows I have enough Plumies - but they have to come on inside for the winter here.
Mimosa, albizia julibrissin.
Chances are they're a pest down in your area. They have tiny compound leaves, and pink powderpuff blossoms that to me smell kinda like peach cobbler. They're an invasive down south, and some say they're invasive up here too. If you ever want to read the Dave's Garden equivalent of a WWF brawl, check out the comments in the mimosa's plant files entry http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1764/index.html . :)
-Joe
I'll have to read those...LOL But after looking at the pics...yes, they grow all over the place here - how funny is that. Finally a plant that I wouldn't have to go "in search of" should I want it! :)
Where do you buy those winter-hardy gardenias? No Lowes near me and HD doesn't have them.
Beverly - the ones I bought at Lowes are borderline hardy. When I do searches I'm getting different answers. I knew when I saw them to grab and buy then b/c they wouldn't be there
Bluestone has the 'Kleim's Hardy' http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/GAKHP.html They're only shipping until June 18th though. Plant files is showing a few vendors selling it http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/79807/index.html
Flower Scent Gardens had the 'Shooting Star' but are sold out http://www.flowerscentgardens.com/gardenia.htm Plant files are showing one vendor selling this one http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/126036/index.html
The 'Chuck Hayes' http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/151232/index.html I purchase this one at a local plant sale a few weeks ago. I'm not seeing vendors in plantfiles for it. This site has it http://www.saundersbrothers.com/Catalog/WoodyA-I/chuckhayes.htm but apparently only has a couple of "retail days"/year.
Here's another site that has a huge selection http://www.nurcar.com/index.htm - they are in the WatchDog with good reviews. http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/3285/
This message was edited Jun 6, 2007 10:47 AM
bbinj,
Chantell is right on. I got my Kleim's Hardy last year from gardensoyvey.com . Chuck Hayes is a bit harder to find, I think it's a newer variety, but you can find it. ebay is a decent resource for me. If you push zones or you want to try out something that you have read is hardy, sometimes you hafta get creative. I have gone to local nurseries to ask about plants like bamboo and their standard reply is "that doesn't grow here." I think "I'll tell that to my three year old stand of bamboo" and I leave. I do a lot of online shopping. :)
My biggest joy so far has been my Stephan's jasmine, jasminum x beesanium, which has returned this year with a vengeance. My gloriosa lilies have just broken the surface of their pot too. w00h00! :)
-Joe
Thanks Chantell and Joe. I have given up on local nurseries because I'm finding that I know more about plants than most of the people working there.
Sad but true!!
Joe - Stephan's jasmine, jasminum x beesanium? What is the scent like? Hmmm...may have to go ISO of that one...my feeling is you can't have too much/many: Lavender, Gardenias, Jasmine...just my personal opinion...and I will try to never go without that Nicotina 'Fragrant Cloud' - I'm so in love!!!
Chantell...after Joe recommended a couple of plants, I ordered them from Lazy S's Nursery...Stephan's Jasmine, Carolina Jessamine 'Margarite'...I just planted them this spring so I haven't experienced their fragrance yet. This is my first year for Nicotiana 'Fragrant Cloud' & 'Only the Lonely'...the first is already blooming and I love it and want it every year, too LOL.
COOL ZVille. My jasmine is doing great. Its second spring, and it is really well established. I got Margarita in the ground about three weeks ago and it has now grown a foot and a half. Aren't the Lazy S people great? :)
Chantall, I'm not sure what the fragrance is like, it hasn't bloomed yet. I am hoping next year, but maybe some time this summer I might get a bloom or two. I'm right there with you re: fragrance. Right now I have a tea rose blooming in back with pink/lavender blooms and a fragrance like old-fashioned rose with lemon. Wow. :)
-Joe
P.S. I found I had to protect my jasmine. Something was nibbling. :/ I used an old-time trick to mark the plant as off limits, then I covered it with chicken wire until it was big enough to start really climbing. It survived the nibbler with flying colors.
"I used an old-time trick"...having a son...I'm almost afraid to ask...
LOL...that's where my mind went, too. Of course, DH likes to drink a few beers while cutting the grass and doing the trim. I've caught him a few times "marking his territory" much to my dismay. And it hasn't kept the critters at bay. Although...he was at the back of the lot, not in my flower beds :~)
Congratulations, Joe. My Kleim's did not make it and I'm very sad about that.
wrightie - if mine survives - don't hesitate to check back with me next year for cuttings.
Thanks, Chantell. This was such a stupid Winter & Spring. It looks like I may also have lost several new Oriental lillies, which had started coming up during our warm December, then got toasted during the harsh freezes.
I agree - I do believe that's why my sedums are looking so sad - plus I don't think they were thrilled with the neem oil treatment...oh well...live and learn
Um, zville and chantall ... Um.
Considering it is out in FRONT of my house ...
But, but, the trick was recommended to me several years back who used to protect her entire garden with it, by sneaking out in the middle of the night. A diluted solution, diluted to not burn foliage, does work quite well with some animals. "Home brewed," so to speak, it is high in nitrates, and it can be discreetly applied during the day using a squirt bottle.
I find a mixture of cayenne pepper and mild detergent works well to scare away cats.
As for other "natural" things, the local sewage processing plant offers some great natural, composted "fertilizer" ... I'd use it on flowers, but I think the high levels of other contaminants (from things people flush besides human by-products) makes it unsuitable for veggies.
Man this conversation just went to h*ll in a handbasket, didn't it?
Back on topic, my gardenia shoot hasn't grown yet. It's still just a green nubbin. My claim of success may have been premature. It still had a few nice leaves this spring, but I did disturb the roots when I pulled it thinking it had died. Others here say gardenias do *not* like their roots disturbed. :(
-Joe
Joe,
With my gardenia that I planted this spring, the only bloom I had was from a bud that was on it when I got it. Other than that, it hasn't done much of anything...not even in the foliage dept. The gardenia house plant has some new foliage but no sign of blooms. This is my first year growing gardenias so I'm not sure what to expect as far as growth rate and amount of blooming.
And it was nice to hear that you took the modest approach to your natural gardening :~)
Denise
Denise, is your gardenia in full sun? Mine got burned last year (it's sheltered from the west and the north, but it's at the focal point of hot sun beating down on top of it during the day). It recovered well in the fall when the shade came back. If your gardenia is in full sun you might try putting a bit of shade cloth over it to block the hottest sun of the day? Also I found mine really really liked moisture.
-Joe
Joe,
My gardenia is in a flower bed at the back of my house which faces west (we have a hill going upwards on the north side of the yard so the wind doesn't blow through our back yard as much as the next house up the hill, if that makes sense). We do have some trees which block some of the sunlight, but the gardenia does get afternoon sun and moisture. The foliage looks healthy...it doesn't look burned at all. Here's a picture...I took it towards dusk so I had to use the flash...the light leaves are new foliage. It's in a bed with other plants so it gets watered when they do. And I've been using the suggestion you made about using coffee around the gardenia :~)
Denise
It looks really good zville. I suspect it's growing below the soil. I'd bet the above soil growth will catch up. :)
-Joe
Considering that the temp. beds I'm growing my plants in until we fix some drainage issues with our lot, I'm amazed how well all of our plants are doing. We did do some minor amending but we do have clay soil. The only plant we've lost so far was ice plant (D. cooperi, I think) due to rot from winter wet (different bed then the gardenia). I was watching a gardening show (Gardener's Diary) and the gardener (in NC, I think) had Kleim's Hardy gardenia that had been there for a few years. It was covered in blooms and I so wished I could experience the fragrance LOL. If my gardenia bites the dust, that'll be the next one I try (even if it doesn't, I might try it anyway).
Denise
Speaking of that direct sun issue...I'm seriously considering pulling up the Canna and moving them to help shade the little Gardenias...although one of them has some protection from the Peony right now.
Well, just for your amusement...this morning I walked out on our back porch with my cup of coffee and found this eye-balling my gardenia (and everything else)...
And this ...
And just some of her babies...
And I don't have pictures (yet) of the possums, rabbits, moles, etc. I love my digital camera LOL! I was out in my PJs snapping those earlier pics. I'm sure the neighbors think I'm a little loony :~)
Denise
You seem to live in a rough neighborhood (if you're a tasy, delicate, plant.) I'd say some of the locals look like they might be up to no good, especially those shifty-eyed little varmints sitting on their hind legs.
If I were a plant in your yard I'd be as jumpy as a Sopranos fan when my screen went blank. :)
I had one fat, male ground hog (a known sunflower-killer) that lived in my 'hood. I called a hit down on him. Unfortunately he was smarter than the trapper I paid to catch him. :( Still, he took the hint and decided to move on down the road.
I live in town, and I still get my share of wandering rogues. Groundhogs, squirrels, and even the occasional deer wander through.
-Joe
Joe,
We live in town, too. It's truly amazing the wildlife that passes through our yard. One night (about 2 AM) I was out back with a flashlight seeing if the slugs were taking the new bait and waiting for my DH to get home from work. All of a sudden I heard loud noises behind me...turned around...and was facing 5 deer approx. 10 ft. away from me. I froze and they grazed on the weeds on our back hill like I wasn't even there. When they got close to one of the beds (seen in the picture of the deer) I sent them on their way. Between the deer and the ground hogs, the only plants started in that bed that are still there are lamb's ear, marigolds, datura, moon vine and one badly munched on morning glory that I'm not sure is going to make it. I'm seriously planning a major redistribution of the plants we have since the ones out front don't get eaten...more deer resistant plants in the back, deer food in the front LOL.
Denise