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Hannah
Friday, September 6, 2013
Gardenia Frost Proof, my favorite this week, September 6, 2013
My favorite plant in the garden this week is Gardenia 'Frost Proof'. That is strange because I wasn't going to risk growing another Gardenia, but I was in the nursery spending my "Shorty's Bucks", which gave me $10 to spend, and here was a lovely Gardenia making wild claims with lovely foliage. In spite of so many other nice hardy plants I could have picked, I succumbed, once having fallen in love with that wonderful fragrance it's hard to resist having it around again. I did manage to keep my last Gardenia alive in the house for a couple years, and let it live by my sink where I could smell it, but after I got brave and planted it in the yard, it didn't last long. Kleim's Hardy and 'veitchii' have both regaled me with fragrance but are no more. So I got home and felt like I should have my head examined, but this week something wonderful happened, it bloomed!
Not only is it double, but the biggest Gardenia flower I have ever seen! And the fragrance is excellent. It is slowly turning brown, but the plant is still looking very good and covered with buds, so there is hope for many more to come.
Sorry, my camera doesn't do well with the glare off of white flowers. So, favorite plant of the week smells divine. I hope it sticks around. I looked it up on the Gardenia forum of Gardenweb and reports on its hardiness in the ground were not good. It doesn't seem to live up to its name.
To see more plant of the week favorites, join Loree on her Danger Garden blog.
Hannah
To see more plant of the week favorites, join Loree on her Danger Garden blog.
Hannah
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Nothing smells quite as wonderful as a Gardenia! I hope it proves hardy for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Alison. I think I am babying it inside this winter. I'm hoping with all the buds it will keep right on flowering.
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful gardenia bloom. My wife is the gardener in the family, but I help her a little sometimes. May your gardenia plant bless you with many more blooms!
ReplyDeleteI love Gardenias! But, alas, my climate is too cold. I've been thinking of trying to keep one alive in a pot on my sheltered porch, but we'll see. The one you purchased is gorgeous! The waxy foliage is beautiful, too, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteYes. I think the foliage is pretty, and it's just covered with buds in various stages, another is starting to open now.
DeleteI love gardenias. I have fond memories from my childhood of our neighbor's garden where this huge, sweet-scented plant grew, and one day she cut one of the blossoms and gave it to me to take home with me. She told me it was a gardenia. She couldn't have given me a gift I would treasure more. Unfortunately, since I've been a gardener myself, I've never had much success with them, but I do love them when other people grow them.
ReplyDeleteI used to visit my son's family in Palo Alto, and take walks, I always looked for gardenias to sniff.
DeleteStunning beautiful white flower!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Birgitta! I was amazed at the size.
DeleteIt's beautiful Hannah! I am just a bit jealous...
ReplyDeleteI can smell it through the computer! Glorious! Hope it is hardy for you!
ReplyDelete