All the Dirt on Gardening

Gardenias, also called Cape Jasmine , are best known for their sweetly scented waxy flowers and thick, shiny leaves. Most of us associate them with warm climates because out of the 200-species only a few are cold hardy enough to grow in our area. Gardenia Frostproof from Logee's.com The flowers vary but tend to be 2-to-4 inches across with six or seven wedge-shaped petals. The fruit that follows is an inch long and matures into a deep orange color in late fall or early winter. If the seeds are harvested they can be planted to grow more shrubs. Their native growing areas are the open woodlands and savannahs of Africa and tropical Asia where they retain their leaves all year and grow into 6-foot tall woody plants. The first American imports from Asia arrived in 1761. They were cultivated by John Ellis on his South Carolina plantation where he named them for his friend Dr. Alexander Garden. New varieties are cold hardy in our zone 7 and gardeners as far north as Canada h...