Hortifresh offers unique and novel agriculture products like Flower Senescence Products and Flower Preservative manufactured by incorporating innovative technologies. Contact Us Now!

For the avid gardener, pretty blooms aren’t enough. Planting flowers or flowering vines and shrubs that add a lilting fragrance to the air creates an outdoor sensory experience. Gardenias (Rubiaceae) are an evergreen shrub that are covered in brilliantly fragrant, white flowers with a look reminiscent of a delicate rose. Once you’ve found the perfect gardenia for you and your yard, take a few extra steps to ensure your bush is filled with fragrant blooms.

Plant gardenias in pots to ensure they thrive when the temperatures dip below 59 degrees Fahrenheit. These frost-tender plants can be brought indoors more easily or moved onto a sun porch for protection. To plant them in the ground in cooler climates, choose a sunny western or southern exposure to maximize the amount of sun the plant receives. In a warmer climate, plant gardenias in an area that receives filtered afternoon shade or where it receives protection from the blistering sun. However, too much shade can minimize blooms.

Choose a potting medium or soil amendments that are acid-rich. Gardenias love acidic, well-drained soils and providing a healthy soil in which the plant can thrive equates to more vigorous blooms. Ideally, the pH balance of the soil should be 5.0 to 5.5.

Fertilize an in-ground gardenia shrub with a water-soluble azalea or gardenia food three times a year: spring, summer and fall. Container-bound gardenias should be fertilized monthly. Depending on the size of your shrub, add the appropriate amount of fertilizer to the plant to promote healthy, glossy leaves and large blooms. When you are unable to locate gardenia fertilizer, choose one that is as close to a balance of 15-5-10 that you can find.

Promote the overall health of the shrub by adding sulfur to the native soil or potting medium, which helps maintain the deep-green, glossy leaves. The ideal times of year for this soil amendment are around Valentine’s Day and then again around the 4th of July.

Water the gardenia when the top 2 inches of the surrounding soil become dry. Gardenias prefer moist soil and when the soil is too dry, the plant protects itself by reserving bloom production, saving essential moisture and nutrients for the roots. However, when you overwater the plant to the point it remains soggy, it becomes prone to root rot or mildew.

Prune woody branches and spent flowers to focus the plant’s production on new growth and blooms and to maintain the shrub’s compact shape.