With technological advances zooming along at lightning speed, surely it won’t be long before we can have our olfactory senses stimulated as we peruse the internet.
In other words, we’ll be able to detect the scents associated with the visuals on our screen.
When that day arrives, please come back to this page and treat yourself to the wonderful aroma of the most pleasantly scented flower in all the floral world--that of the gardenia.
Gardenia is in the coffee family, Rubiaceae.
Although gardenia is native to the warm and humid tropical and subtropical areas of the world such as are found in parts of Africa and Asia, the plants are quite widely cultivated in the United States as both houseplants and as outdoor flowering shrubs in the more temperate climates.
The dark green glossy leaves of the evergreen gardenia make it an attractive and desirable outdoor landscaping plant in those areas where the year-round temperatures do allow for its cultivation, and that distinctive and wonderful scent that we mentioned make the gardenia a classic and stylish ingredient in home landscaping in the southern United States.
As an indoor houseplant, your gardenia needs good lighting from a southern or southwest exposure window as well as plenty of warmth, humidity, moisture, and a loose acidic potting soil.
If you are planning to grow gardenia as an outdoor landscaping shrub, you won’t go wrong if you treat it in a similar manner as you do your azalea plants.
By that we mean bright sunlight but some mixed-in shade, acid soils, and ideally a high humidity to imitate conditions in the native tropical areas from which gardenia originated.
Healthy gardenia plants grown under desirable conditions should produce beautiful white blossoms (2 to 3 inches across) from mid-spring through mid-summer.
And therein lies the true majesty and desirability of this incredible plant--that amazingly sweet fragrance.
Enjoy the scent of your gardenia houseplants or landscaping plants at home “in person” until the technology arrives when we can capture their aroma electronically!
