Re: Queen's wreath

My guess is gardenia survival depends on three thing--warmth [zone 8b minimum], acid soil [lots of peat with coffee grounds mulch] and food [MirAcid or however it's spelled], and humidity [60 percent or better]. I have two planted out--two in a perpetual state of partial chlorosis. They're both G. jasminoides "Mystery", but one is the Miami Supreme cultivar. Both require a lot of acid fertilizer--and the usual bagged stuff [camellia azalea rhodo food] won't do it. But, whether I pay attention to them or not, they both bloom profusely during spring and summer. 

On Feb 5, 2007, at 1:02 PM, Cathy Carpenter wrote:


On Feb 3, 2007, at 5:20 PM, Zemuly Sanders wrote:
Actually, I kind of like it! We aren't quite as cold as Chicago, only about -1 this morning, with temps in the teens and single digits predicted for this week. Will probably lose a few plants too. Probably some of the small shrubs I put in in the fall. A couple of inches of snow forecast for this evening. But I can look at my orchids - have three phalaenopsis and a Leiliocattleya in bloom now. DH bought me a gardenia and some forced bulbs for our anniversary. I can never keep gardenia alive... darn. 

Cathy, z5b, IL
How do you stand it? I can take our cold because I know it won't last that long, but yours is really brutal. 
zem
zone 7
West TN
----- Original Message ----- From: "Donna" <gossiper@sbcglobal.net>
To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2007 4:18 PM
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Queen's wreath



wonderful pick me up Jim.....

Here it is currently 4 with the wind howling
at 37mpg, which translates to minus 18.... yipes!... going down to minus 4 tonight with a high of 2 tomorrow... then minus 10 tomorrow night. I think 
they said we are in for a week of this nonsense.

So all this means- start
cutting now... gonna loose allot of plants this winter as they really don't have the protection they need. We usually have a couple inches/ft of snow when this happens. The last snowfall was light and fluffy and blew into the 
next county... sigh.

My mother has taken on feeding every bird for miles...
trust me- they are all in our yards... hundreds of them. Bird feeders are filled twice a day and can't keep up... she also has started the 'bird bread' campaign. Local thrift hostess place is doing a great business with me.... they are going thru 8-10 loafs of bread a day.... I really didn't think it was a good idea to give birds bread, but there is no arguing with mother...sigh. 
Donna


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Island Jim
Southwest Florida
27.1 N, 82.4 W
Hardiness Zone 10
Heat Zone 10
Sunset Zone 25
Minimum 30 F [-1 C]
Maximum 100 F [38 C]

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