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05-31-2013, 12:01 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 7,196
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbuchman
I love the smell of gardenias. How envious I am that you can grow them outdoors. Here is my gardenia story.
I have had this plant for 39 years! When I was a freshman in College (in1974-1975), I got it for free from the Coca Cola company. Back in those days, vending machines provided Coke in paper cups. If you sent in a large number of proof-of-purchase seals from the cups, you got a plant. It came bare rooted in a plastic bag in a business envelope via the mail. Now it is about 4 feet tall and almost as wide. It is potted - outdoors in summer and indoors in winter. I am continually fighting scale and mealy bugs on it, but I refuse to give up. It's been blown over in storms and the top broken off multiple times. It will bloom shortly on my patio and the entire area will smell wonderful. My husband keeps encouraging me to take a cutting and get rid of the big plant - I just can't do it.
I took this picture a few years ago.
Attachment 82592 |
That is a great story!
I can see how I would be very attached to a plant (or anything!) after having it for such a long time.
but as your husband says, you can make lots of babies with cuttings, just in case. 
When you have it indoor for the winter, it might be a source of bug issues to your other plants?
Anyways, as fragrant as its scent, gardenia leaves must be tasty as it is almost like a bug magnet.
I buy the potted ones every summer when they become available, but they always get bugs when nothing else in my apartment gets bugs.
Oh, and did I like the fragrance? oh, yeah!!!
I'm thinking of getting a bottle of Chanel Gardenia so I can have gardenia scent any time I want. 
Last edited by NYCorchidman; 05-31-2013 at 12:06 AM..
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Post Thanks / Like - 1 Likes
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05-31-2013, 11:43 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Zone: 6b
Location: Northern NJ USA
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Yes indeed, the spring indoor bug bloom is gardenia centric. That's why I separate the gardenia from other plants. I use a systemic and I use malathion about every 2 years (I hate the smell, even outdoors) to keep it under control. I'm trying to use neem oil regularly now in hopes that I can eradicate the problem ... someday.
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06-14-2013, 09:32 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,376
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Buds and blooms!. I have two gorgeous flowers and a bunch of buds expanding. Yippee skippee!
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06-14-2013, 08:14 PM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 2008
Zone: 9a
Location: Nor Cal
Posts: 26,634
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Picotee
Buds and blooms!. I have two gorgeous flowers and a bunch of buds expanding. Yippee skippee!
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Yay!
The cutting I am trying to root is still alive, and looks like maybe some tiny new growth ... |
06-15-2013, 07:07 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 1,376
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit
Yay!
The cutting I am trying to root is still alive, and looks like maybe some tiny new growth ...
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Great! Good luck! |
12-09-2013, 11:46 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: May 2005
Zone: 7b
Location: Queens, NY, & Madison County NC, US
Age: 45
Posts: 19,374
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Wow, white gem is my favourite. Can't wait to see your results this coming year.
__________________
"We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?"
Goblin Market
by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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12-10-2013, 01:46 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Zone: 9b
Location: SoCal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cbuchman
Yes indeed, the spring indoor bug bloom is gardenia centric. That's why I separate the gardenia from other plants. I use a systemic and I use malathion about every 2 years (I hate the smell, even outdoors) to keep it under control. I'm trying to use neem oil regularly now in hopes that I can eradicate the problem ... someday.
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Hmm... I have two indoor gardenia and I have to say I've never once spotted a pest on them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCorchidman
That is a great story!
I can see how I would be very attached to a plant (or anything!) after having it for such a long time.
but as your husband says, you can make lots of babies with cuttings, just in case.
When you have it indoor for the winter, it might be a source of bug issues to your other plants?
Anyways, as fragrant as its scent, gardenia leaves must be tasty as it is almost like a bug magnet.
I buy the potted ones every summer when they become available, but they always get bugs when nothing else in my apartment gets bugs.
Oh, and did I like the fragrance? oh, yeah!!!
I'm thinking of getting a bottle of Chanel Gardenia so I can have gardenia scent any time I want. |
If you harvest a couple flowers you can make tea or oil.
You can distill out the gardenia oil like with roses. You can also make gardenia water in the same fashion as rose water.
Or you can make tea. Which I think preserves the scent best.
Drop about three clean blooms in a gallon of cold water and let sit in the fridge for about two days.
When you take the gardenia out the water is heavily scented with gardenia.
I use it as a drink personally but the fragrance is great, sometimes I use it to wash my face lol.
And it lasts forever in the fridge...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Picotee
Buds and blooms!. I have two gorgeous flowers and a bunch of buds expanding. Yippee skippee!
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hooray!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Picotee
Great! Good luck!
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Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit
Yay!
The cutting I am trying to root is still alive, and looks like maybe some tiny new growth ...
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I hope it makes it
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
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12-10-2013, 01:51 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Zone: 9b
Location: SoCal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tindomul
Wow, white gem is my favourite. Can't wait to see your results this coming year.
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There's alot of single flowered hybrids out there that might suit your fancy...
Unfortunately some terrible things happened.
Quite a number of them decided they simply didn't like where I had planted them.
Which I expect honestly.
With me gardenia are easy. Either they die in the first year, or they take off and turn into these monster bushes.
The white gem were the saddest. I intend to get more and not let them flower for the first two years.
These little guys grew spectacularly. Then they bloomed... and bloomed... and bloomed, and bloomed, and bloomed. They literally bloomed themselves to death.
I'm going to let them get more established.
My golden magic just got attacked by something hungry as well...
On the plus side quite a number are doing spectacularly!
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk |
12-10-2013, 10:24 AM
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Senior Member
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Join Date: Jul 2012
Zone: 6b
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I am happy to report that with Neem oil and a systemic, I don't have even a hint of mealy bugs (yet?) I am being VERY diligent. I brought mine inside in November when it started to get cold here and it immediately started to bloom. So I have 1-2 blooms at a time since then, In the Spring it blooms like crazy with 30-50 blooms. So thanks, Ordphien, for the suggestion for gardenia water 
I must say it is lovely sight to see and smell these wonderful flowers when it is snowing outside as it is today. |
12-10-2013, 11:25 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: May 2005
Zone: 7b
Location: Queens, NY, & Madison County NC, US
Age: 45
Posts: 19,374
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When in bloom, does the fragrance attract any desirable animals? As in, not mealy bugs.
__________________
"We must not look at goblin men,
We must not buy their fruits:
Who knows upon what soil they fed
Their hungry thirsty roots?"
Goblin Market
by Christina Georgina Rossetti
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