Published: May 11, 2008 01:33 am            

Follow your nose to the gardenias

My favorite flowers are almost always scented. Those that are shy and retiring require that I bury my nose in the bloom and really inhale to get a whiff. Others, like a bevy of teen-aged girls doused in cologne, announce their presence to the neighborhood. Their wafting fragrances can be almost overpowering.

Gardenias definitely fit into the latter category. Their scent is not subtle! I enjoy picking gardenias for my kitchen window vase. A small bouquet of blossoms will perfume the whole kitchen for several days.

Technically, the only gardenia I own is in the back 40. The gardenias that capture my attention as I go about my daily routine belong to my neighbors. Luckily two neighbors have regal specimens that have been loaded with creamy white flowers this year. As I come and go from work to home, I sometimes have to pause and just inhale.

That’s a good thing and that’s why I love gardenias.

Gardenias are sometimes called Cape Jasmine – especially by the older folks. The traditional double gardenia comes from China. The old-fashioned single daisy gardenia or hip gardenia comes from Africa. Both are close relatives of coffee. Gardenias are broadleaf evergreen shrubs. They average 4 to 6 feet tall. The flowers are a gardenia’s most distinguishing trait. Generally after the flowers fade, gardenia shrubs also fade – into the woodwork.

I’ve noticed that the prettiest gardenias around town are planted in sites with a lot of sun and some afternoon shade. Like azaleas, gardenias thrive in acid soils. Fertilize them with a product high in iron like Ironite and plant in a soil with good drainage.

Gardenias are a Southern thing. They can sustain serious winter damage in North Mississippi. In the Northern U.S., they are grown as potted greenhouse plants. I’d hate to try to grow gardenias in a greenhouse. They are plagued by pests when grown outdoors here. In a greenhouse gardenias would definitely be pest magnets. Whiteflies, the most prolific pests, look like tiny light colored gnats. If leaves are disturbed, a flock of whiteflies often fly into the air and sometimes up your nose! Whiteflies don’t make holes in the leaves. Instead they feed on plant sap with tiny piercing mouthparts and cause stunted growth. Sometimes the whiteflies feed so rapidly on sugary plant sap that they leave a sticky residue on the leaves. This honeydew can accumulate and provide the perfect growing medium for a black sooty mold deposit on the leaves.

Gardenia blooms (along with those of daylilies and white roses) are also prone to pest attacks. Thrips tear at the flowers and cause deformity or brown streaking. They can even attack the flower buds with such ferocity that the buds fail to open. Thrips are tiny. At first glance, they look like small dark threads on the white flower. If the flower is shaken above a white sheet of paper, the threads begin to move around or even fly away!

Thrips have never bothered my gardenia much. However, a friend told me that she will not cut gardenias for her vases because thrips get loose in her house. I’m told that gardenias are never used in Hawaiian leis because of the thrip problem. As with whiteflies, thrip populations are light some years and little damage occurs. In other years, the weather can trigger a population explosion.

Happy plants in a good cultural situation seem to be resistant to both pests. The most severely infested gardenias seem to be over-fertilized and stressed from the rapid growth. Discourage both pests by fertilizing with a moderate amount of nitrogen and using a fertilizer with iron. In case of heavy infestations, spray with Safer soap according to label directions or purchase a recommended insecticide. I wouldn’t like to grow a gardenia indoors. However if I did live in the North, I might have to try. Gardenias are a part of my Southern heritage. If there were no gardenia blossoms to scent the balmy summer nights, all would not be right with the world.



• Gail Barton is

program coordinator of Meridian Community

College’s Horticulture

Technology Program and the author of a garden book.

        

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