Gardenia jasminoides : Gardenia

Evergreen shrub with glossy, dark-green leaves and very fragrant white flowers

Gardenias are not just pretty flowers; sensual and voluptuous, their aroma overwhelms and envelops. One plant can perfume a small garden, one bloom will drench a room with its sweet smell.

They are quite easy to grow when conditions are right--and conditions hardly ever are right in Southern California. Like azaleas, gardenias need acid soil and plenty of iron additives to keep their leaves from turning chlorotically yellow. Peat moss and iron chelate are commonly used to make gardenias more comfortable in our climate.

Although gardenias need summer heat (but should be partially shaded in the hotter inland areas), they also require a deep mulch and sufficient water to keep their roots cool and moist at all times. The leaves and flowers need daily mistings, but they are very sensitive to salts contained in tap water. Given all the right care and attention, most varieties will start blooming in the spring and keep at it until late fall.

But is it worth the trouble? All that expense? That depends; some people don’t even like the smell of gardenias, perhaps basing that opinion on a whiff of a wretched old corsage flower, its petals turning brown. A freshly opened gardenia, still on the shrub, a creamy velvet beauty held over shiny green satin leaves, has an exhilarating fragrance, a scent that makes one long for the gift of poetry.

Several varieties of gardenias are available, ranging from the 8-foot shrub, “Mystery” to the dainty “Radicans,” a 6- to 12-inch ground cover. Depending on size, gardenias are useful as hedges, container plants, espaliers. Just be sure to plant them near the action, so to speak. Viewing them from a distance may be a pleasant sight, but it won’t do a thing for one’s nose.