Gardenias

These couple of months, my gardenias are blooming continuously - not sure if there is a season for them!  So these few nights  I enjoy standing or just walking outside the house especially after dinner just to enjoy  the fragrance the flowers exude.

I have my gardenias for about three years now,  I used to have them in pots. When we moved to this house I planted them on the ground, and  they have flourished and  grown much taller.  I have three small bushes  which are the variegated type, and one bush that has the normal deep green leaves.  I like the variegated gardenias as their leaves are strikingly attractive, but the setback is the flowers being white as well tends to get lost sometimes amongst the leaves. Sometimes I detect the scent even before I can see the flower !

The gardenia blooms only for  a day, then it turns slightly yellow, however the fragrance still lingers on. I prefer to cut off the faded blooms. 

Gardenias are actually easy to propagate. They can be propagated by cuttings. However these plants are slow growers so don't feel disappointed. The beautiful blooms are worth the waiting for. Gardenias are easy to care for, they are not fussy at all....but watch out for caterpillars!  Below is an example of culprits which like to eat the leaves and buds......! Overnight, they can practically eat up the whole plant, leaving the evidence of  unsightly damaged buds and leaves.....

The little fellow with the long legs also seems rather fascinated by the gardenia as well.

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