Gardenia …Gardenia Veitchii
Oh, what a sweet wait and struggle! This double white strong scented tropical plant needed weeks of warm spring sun rays and gentle moonlit nights – all just to coax couple of tender angel white flowers. What a pretty flower? Petals soft leathery white with fragrance spreading to the whole room. But like that tropical magnolia species – champaca (sampenga in Telugu), it is worth all the trouble and pampering. On the Internet there must be many sites discussing care of this temperamental (temperamental, which plant is not really? Or, for that matter, which child is not moody and temperamental?) tropical flowering plant. When one reads all the information on the net, one is frustrated – due to many demands of this shrub. But, as always, a grain of practice is worth a pound of idle theory.
When did I first notice this unique flower? In that coastal village, all most all the houses in our street used to have at least the single flower variety. In Andhra, we used to call it by nandi vardhanamu (nandi refers to the immaculate white color, Gardenia Lucida?). There it was ubiquitous, reveling in the humid weather and cool nights. The single flower variety needs very little care – just people planted in their little gardens and forgot about it. It would grow all by itself into a large shrub with stout trunk and yield basketful of sweet smelling flowers with inch long stems. Very handy for making long garlands. But what about the double flower variety? Even today, some old memories come rushing in the bat of an eye. In coed high school days, the luckiest boys were the ones behind the row of girls. Often a whole day was spent imbibing the gardenia scent emanating from the girl student’s oily braid in the front. Amidst such daunting distractions, we had to study Srinatha, Nannaya, Pythagoras theorem and total internal reflection and of course, Jonathan Swift.
But this double flower (mudda nandi vardhanamu) created another inerasable imprint on a young innocent mind. I was walking home through a neighbor’s garden in a moonlit night late evening, after first show? The garden was a prize possession of a munificent landlord. As I was reaching the gate, a sudden intense waft caught my attention. I could barely see the yellow hued white flower delicately held to a tall shrub in the corner. The scent resembles that of Gardenia Veitchii – but the gardenia smells in India appear to be a bit sweeter and milder. Much later I came to know that the neighbor brought many rare plants from Bangalore. That garden, even today I consider to be the best I have ever seen anywhere. Because it contained everything – from water lily, fern, rose, to Rangoon creeper. And many more. It had all types of plants except bonsai. The master gardener there, Katlayya, was an exceptional green thumb. I never witnessed a single blade of grass turn yellow nor a single rajnigandha stem without flowers. That was then, a single head gardener could produce an earthly paradise - all without modern techniques – just with a handful of assistants. Perhaps it is a divine gift – some can make everything they touch into beautiful. Who can say that there are no gandharvas here?
I noticed some confusion in the nomenclature – popular names and botanical names for this shrub. I will look into that later carefully. The leaf structure and flower details are visible in the photos here. The flower has light yellowish stamen; they are not clear here either due to the flash or perhaps it did not fully open yet.
Soil: After tending many plants, a gardener may occasionally forget about the exact soil mixture for a particular container plant. Such things do happen once in a while. (This is similar to what expert cooks experience - good cooks can always improvise tasty dishes even with modest ingredients! They do not need written recipes) But in the care free joyful hobby of gardening – there is an interesting observation. I am sure many avid gardeners will testify to the veracity of this observation: In the hands of a master (or call green thumb, if you will) gardener, even a troublesome plant will tolerate some abuse and benign neglect. Thus, the gardener will pick a handful (I mean trowelful) of compost, backyard loam, and sand and throws the mixture into a container and tucks in the new addition. And lo, in a few weeks, most plants will thrive and yield colorful flowers. Even if such gardener heaps a good bit of neglect, still the plant will not die. To a beginner, this may appear strange and magical. I think there is some invisible understanding between the plants and expert gardeners. They are always under a loving watchful eye. The plants know it and the gardener feels it too.
Now a plant like gardenia does not ask much – I mean if it is located in tropical sun with plenty of sunshine and rain water. Back in those days in most villages we never had any miracle-grow plant food nor bone meal. In tropical places, one can just plant this shrub in a pile of brick rubble and still it will give heavenly redolent flowers. All it needs in such sunny places, is a decent drainage and some water. In coastal Andhra Pradesh, I used to find this plant with smiley white flowers during most of the year. Of course, gardenia always is fond of rain drops. I still vividly remember this scene from years back – I would go to a neighbor’s garden for collecting flowers and there I was enchanted by the large carpet of white gardenia flowers glistening with cool rain drops from the previous night. So many (these were mostly single flower type) flowers with delicate scent. The double flowers – they were a bit rare, they used to hide behind tender shoots. But the double flowers – they compensated for their small numbers with their intense head swooning sweet fragrance.
When this plant is bought from a local store, it is often potted with peat moss. Peat moss has one disadvantage: When it dries, it is really bone dry. Thus, it is better to remove the plant from the store bought container and repot. The one shown in photo is about five month old plant. I used backyard compost, sand, and a bit of organic manure for repotting. Just for safety, I used a clay pot. I lost two gardenias earlier; one got severe pest (aphids?) infestation and the other could not cope up with chilly winter and its master’s prolonged absence. (Plants seem to be more attached to people than pets!). I placed plenty of pebbles/brick pieces/charcoal at the bottom to give ample drainage for the plant. This plant likes moist soil – uniformly moist most of the time. But it does not tolerate standing water. Standing water at the roots can give rise to bugs.
Acid soil and pH
Like rhododendrons and azaleas, gardenias like the soil a bit on the acid side. This is not really big problem. Peat moss and dried cow manure can bring this acidity to the soil. Intermittently, the plant can be given a bit of kitchen vinegar. No harm done. We can also use a sprinkling of acid plant food granules (16-2-3, Scott’s or other brand) to keep pH on the lower side; this food also contains iron. If the plant is getting proper nourishment (plenty of sun light and nutrients from soil), it will exhibit green shiny leaves. Yellowing leaves can be an indication of improper pH – but not always. For example, in bright sun the plant’s older leaves (lower side, closer to the root system) will naturally turn yellow and drop off. This is nothing to worry. Sometimes, excess water in the roots can produce yellowing of leaves. By careful watching, one can adjust the soil to suit gardenia’s moods.
I have used flowering plant sticks and dilute plant food solution (ex: Vigoro) with good results. Bone meal also yields good results. For flowers, the plant needs just plenty of sun shine and moderate warm temperatures. Now that is a tall order in the bone-chilling-cold northeast. Still, now I can say with experience this is doable and we can get flowers from this difficult tropical prized plant. I just put it near south window during winters. Thus, it gets all the available light. Due to sudden fluctuations or chills, it may shed a few flower buds. Again, that happens to lots of other plants. I have seen it with magnolia. In this sense, hibiscus is the only sturdy one. Most of the time, hibiscus (the tropical variety) brings all its buds to successful blooming. If sun light is lacking, any artificial lighting will do – either incandescent table lamps, fluorescent light bulb/tube, or the red spectrum corrected fluorescent lamp used in green houses.
Watering
An occasional interruption of watering does not lead to death. For a day, gardenia can go thirsty – just its leaves (particularly the top tender shoots) will droop begging for water. When the plant is full of leaves, during hot summer days there will be significant loss of water. In such times, it needs a bit more water. I have used spray on the leaves without any adverse effects. It would be good to have access to clean stream water, rain water, distilled water, or mineral water (even water from dehumidifier). Hard water (water with excess calcium or magnesium salts) will leave white sooty marks on the green leaves. During dry times (indoor heating, winter), the plant can be left in a gentle shower (lukewarm ok, but not warm). It really enjoys taking bath, a poor substitute for a tropical downpour! When the plant gets sufficient water, its leaves are turgid, erect , and happy.
I am sure new plants can be grown from cuttings (similar to jasmine). I have not yet pruned this plant yet; when I do, I will have a number of cuttings for rooting. Small suckers also seem to propagate from the mother plant. I plan to put it outside once the night temperatures climb up to 60 degrees °F.
So far I have not encountered any serious pest problem with this plant. On the new leaves, I notice small specks of black/green dots. I just remove them with a clean tissue or dislodge them with a jet spray. I have a homemade brew of horticultural oil, dish water soap, and capsicum extract. Most of the time, a single spray of this solution takes care of all pests. I find pests on crossandra more bothersome than on gardenia. Will add additional tips for pests when I run into that problem. Usually if the plant is given proper watering, sun light, and mild fertilizer – then the plant takes care of itself. (copyright)
[This post is dedicated to the memory of a dear cousin (Ch. S. R. M). In a brief life, she touched the hearts of many and gave all she could. Like a container-confined Gardenia Veitchii, all she ever wanted in life was a ray of humanity. Wherever she is now, I hope, like an apsara, she is beyond the pettiness of earthly life.]
copyright 4/24/09