Last January, on a vacation to the Keys, I saw a Tahitian Gardenia for the first time. I loved it on sight! Its fragrance drew me in like an intoxicant and I knew I had to have one. I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t know its name. But I had to have it.

I searched and searched and finally found a reasonably priced 3-gallon plant up near Delray at a home improvement store. It came home with us on the back seat of the Honda.

Since it grew outdoors in Florida, I crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t be insect infested. That first night in Virginia, I sprayed it with bug spray and watered in some systemic pesticide, wrapped it in a sheet and put it in the garage. It stayed in the garage 48 hours since the temps outside were not below 40 and the garage relatively warm. Then I brought it indoors.

I kept it in our unheated sunroom until I could put it outside on the deck in late April. It did great inside, never got bugs nor dropped a leaf.

This gardenia is a gem! It has NEVER stopped blooming since January. It’s produced hundreds of huge 5” creamy white single blossoms since we purchased it. They perfume the air and hold their fragrance when cut. And it keeps putting out more buds.

It’s gotten bigger and will need transplanting. I’ve been waiting for it to stop blooming before repotting – but it looks like its going to keep on blooming. I’m looking at all the large planters I have on my deck and considering which one I will transplant this new favorite into at the end of the season.

There are very few plants I winter over – just one good sized standard gardenia and a couple of small citrus. But this Tahitian Gardenia plant is a keeper and is worth the time and effort it will take to drag into the house for winter and out to the deck for Spring/Summer/Fall. It asks for little – it cannot take weather much below about 45 degrees and it drinks water constantly – my guess is that if it ever dries out it will die.

I watered it carefully initially, as I didn’t want to overwater it. But it is very happy sitting in a bucket of water in the blistering summer heat, so it’s care is easy enough for almost anyone. I’ve given it a very little bit of 10-10-10 fertilizer, lots of water, sun and heat this summer. It is thriving. It did equally well in the unheated sunroom in February where it was sunny & ~50 degrees. It’s one consistent demand seems to be water and a lot of it. Otherwise this is a happy, easy plant that delivers abundant flower and fragrance.