Gardenia
- To: m*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Gardenia
- From: D* W*
- Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 11:37:08 -0800
According to the notes in my Have/Want book, Gardenia thunbergii is
more tolerant of cool summers. I haven't found one yet, though.
The ones I have are forms of G. jasminoides. The ones that have
flowered are small, really just rooted cuttings that I bought at
Humber Nurseries in Toronto for about $2 each: j. radicans, j.
radicans "Variegata" and j. "White Gem".
A larger one that hasn't flowered yet I bought at Gossler Nursery in
Springfield Oregon: j.Klein's Hardy. The poor plant got completely
buried by a rampant salvia. I'm hoping for blooms now that it is
exposed to a bit of daylight.
I have them growing instead an unheated greenhouse which ranges in
temperature from a low of 8C in the winter to a high of 30C if I
forget to open the windows in the summer. When they are big enough,
I'll take cuttings and try them outside. This seems rash when I
remember the large gardenia bushes lining the walkway at my seaside
school in Sabah, on the island of Borneo. The girls used to pick the
blossoms and put them in their hair, and the boys used to prune the
bushes with a parang (machete) against a piece of board as part of
their chores.
So maybe I'll just try the Klein's Hardy outside.
Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
zone 8, Sunset zone 5
cool mediterranean climate
