Re: Gardenia
Dear Diane,
The name of the plant you refer to is 'Kleim's Hardy,' a single that the
late Don Kleim of Clovis bought for his nursery, 'Henderson's
Experimental Plants.' It was a treasure of a nursery but I had little
success with Gardenia 'Star'-the name he bought it under or 'Kleim's
Hardy' in our cool maritime Berkeley climate. It does however do
quite well in a conservatory.
Michael D. Barclay
operatic@earthlink.net
Diane Whitehead wrote:
> 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
