Once, long ago in Southern California, I was introduced to the heavenly gardenia, and I've been hooked ever since. But it has not been a shining story of success. My first pot grown one, which my mother bought me at the age of twelve, naturally dropped all of its buds in my drafty New England bedroom. Over the years I have tried my luck a handful of times, but it's always the same scenario. Fast forward to a snowy Vermont day at the supermarket in 2009, and there she is, like a siren, bidding me to try again. So for $12.00, and very little need to convince myself, I became the proud and optomistic owner of a healthy, glossy-green, bud covered gardenia. And guess what! Six months later, every bud and every leaf is still there, but not a single bud has openend! And this, my research says, is because it has not had enough light. But I'm not giving up! Stay tuned!
First stop, the porch, on a beautiful table (trash night in a greater Boston suburb, circa 1987) with an easterly exposure in order to acclimate to the stronger spring sunlight. I know, the neighborhood's a bit sketchy, but it's only temporary.
