{"id":9610,"date":"2017-04-24T02:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=9610"},"modified":"2017-04-24T13:06:43","modified_gmt":"2017-04-24T17:06:43","slug":"gardenias-continue-to-disappoint-in-the-mid-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2017\/04\/24\/gardenias-continue-to-disappoint-in-the-mid-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Gardenias Continue To Disappoint In The Mid-South"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Potted Gardenia- tree form<\/p><\/div>\n

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Gardenia clipped at Charlotte NC restaurant<\/p><\/div>\n

The lure of fragrant white flowers have mid-South gardeners (zones 6 and 7) wanting to grow gardenias (Gardenia jasminoides<\/em>). New cultivars, supposedly hardier than previous ones, hit garden centers every spring. Unfortunately, zones 6 and 7 winters usually prove them wrong.<\/p>\n

Recent purchases of new cultivars \u2018Frostproof\u2019 and Pinwheel\u00ae and older selection \u2018Kleim\u2019s Hardy\u2019 have proven disappointing here. Plants appear to dread wild temperature fluxes so common.<\/p>\n

Native to semi-tropical areas of Asia (USDA hardiness zones 8-11), gardenias are slow-growing evergreen shrubs. Hardy forms supposedly may grow outdoors where winter temperatures are mild (zone 7, maybe 6). In most regions of the U.S., they should be brought indoors in winter and grown as a house plant.<\/p>\n

Plant gardenias in an area to catches morning to early afternoon sun or all-day dappled sunlight. Protect gardenias from mid-afternoon sun. Gardenias prefer an acidic soil ranging from pH 4.5 to 6.0. Alkaline soil pH often causes chlorosis (interveinal yellowing) and reduces bloom count. Yellowing and shedding of older leaves occur before or after flowering. To increase soil acidity add elemental sulfur, chelated iron and\/or aluminum sulfate.\u00a0Lightly prune after bloom to shape and develop a dense shrub.\u00a0Do not prune after mid-August.<\/p>\n

Wherever you live, treat gardenias as finicky house plants. They\u2019re troubled by spider mites, mealy bugs, scales, aphids and white flies. If you observe sooty mold growing on stems or leaves, white flies and aphids are likely feeding. Inspect plants often and spray with insecticidal soap or neem oil when pests are seen.<\/p>\n

Plants are challenging to grow inside most homes and are best cared for a greenhouse or sunroom. Provide an east or south sunlight exposure over the winter months. Feed with a fertilizer for acid-loving plants such as Miracle-Gro\u2122, Espoma\u2122, or Daniels\u2122 every 2-3 weeks in spring and summer. \u00a0Allow plants to spend summer outdoors (mid-May through September in most locales) under the dappled shade of shade trees in your yard. From late fall through winter, feed plants monthly.<\/p>\n

Overwatering is the greatest problem with growing gardenias. Plants don\u2019t like their roots embedded in soggy soils. Repot gardenias in containers in late winter or immediately after flowering. Root pruning (removal of dead or browning roots) should encourage new roots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The lure of fragrant white flowers have mid-South gardeners (zones 6 and 7) wanting to grow gardenias (Gardenia jasminoides). New cultivars, supposedly hardier than previous ones, hit garden centers every spring. Unfortunately, zones 6 and 7 winters usually prove them wrong. Recent purchases of new cultivars \u2018Frostproof\u2019 and Pinwheel\u00ae and older selection \u2018Kleim\u2019s Hardy\u2019 have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,1124,356,1195,1266,299,605,1037,710,144,1115,800,665,1289,602,1012,1119,816,1378,637,1392,742,843,601,729,1031,629,777,630,705,706,646,1126,7,113,1394,1222,455,642],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9610"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9614,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9610\/revisions\/9614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}