Topic: first gardenia flower

[plants n pots]

I almost missed this beauty, as it was facing the window in a room I don't go into often. I'm overwintering 3 gardenias by windows indoors, and this is the first bloom of the season. Can you smell it???

[Dianna]

WOW!

That is beautiful, Lynne! Does it make the whole room smell like gardenias? It looks so healthy, too!

I haven't tried my hand at trying gardenias, yet, but may after seeing that my neighbor has success with hers. She has a beautiful bush planted outside in her yard...

[plants n pots]

Thanks Dianna!  Actually, I don't smell it unless I am right up on it - weird, huh?
What zone are you there - will you be able to leave one oustide, or will you have to overwinter it indoors?

I got my 3 last spring, when Home Depot had them for 1/2 off - they had too many left after Mother's Day, and they were finishing blooming, so I got a great deal.

[Dianna]

Lynne, we are in zone 7. My neighbor has hers planted right outside in full sun in clay soil! If she can do it, I ought to be able to...

I need to remind me to check Home Depot after Mother's Day...

[Patty S]

That IS a beauty, Lynne!

The last I heard about your Gardenias was when you found spider mites all over them... did they miss this one, or did it just get well?  Maybe the reason you have to get right on it to pick up the scent is because your rooms DO smell like it & you just don't notice it now.

Do they only bloom in the winter? I've been keeping my eye out for Gardenias since I first saw yours.
 I've seen them, but I want the ones on sale! 
                          (Thanx for my birdie, Dianna!)  

[plants n pots]

Patty - this plant is in Brian's room, and did not get the spider mites that the 2 in my bedroom had.  It's also the largest of the 3, and the one that was on the front porch last summer in the same pot.  They should bloom all summer into fall - they are just beginning now.

Dianna - I hope you find a nice one, and have great success with it outside!
The one that I had planted in the ground dried out to often where I had it, and didn't get enough water, so it didn't get as big as the one in the pot on the porch.  The other one was inside getting the setting SW sun only - no blooms while there, but the plant did well.

[Bonnie]

I left the one dianna gave me on the back steps and it is just now coming back. That sure is a pretty one you have, Lynne.

Bonnie

[patches]

AHHHH, yes, I can smell it, Lynne!  They have such a heavenly scent and I love to smell them.  We can't have them outside here except in the warmer months. so we have to bring them inside during the winter.   Wow, what a full and beautiful bloom you have there.