Gardenias can live in sun to partial shade and like acidic soil. I have a
bunch of Chuck Hayes Gardenias planted as foundation plantings along the
front of our house and they have done well there. We are surrounded by tall
pines so they only get partial shade.

Our soil here is pure clay so when I planted our Gardenias I had to heavily
amend the soil with compost, topsoil and peat moss to about 18" to get
anything that they would grow in. Once I did that they transplanted and grew
just fine. They were actually the first successful shrubs that I've ever
planted.

We fertilize with Holly-tone in the spring and other than that and an
occasional pruning they've been pretty easy. Last fall we had an aphid
infestation which is what caused a lot of the problems I've seen this spring
but they should perk up soon.

The only Gardenias I know of that can survive the winters here are Kleim's
hardy and Chuck Hayes. There are some posts on Gardenweb from people who
have had success with Veitchii making it through some cold winters.

We got our Gardenias from Red Mill Nursery in Durham and have been really
happy with them and all of the plants we've bought there.

Robert

"laurie (Mother Mastiff)" wrote in
message k.net...
I finally succumbed to my old love, gardenias, by buying a bud-covered
plant
at the grocery store, but to be honest, I have never planted one, just
lived
in many places where they were already established, so I never paid
attention to light, exposure, and soil.

The label called it Gardenia Veitchii, and the directions were only for
keeping it as a house plant. I've got too many chickens in the house to
have
room for house plants!

What makes a gardenia bush healthy and happy? Besides waiting till after
the expected hard freeze early next week to plant it?

laurie (Mother Mastiff)