Well unfortunately with florals..you'll get quite a variety of interpretations of the scent. I personally like a Plumeria that I think is actually a Dupe of Bath and Body Works. Which is a blend of things, not just the "scent" of the flower. However if you are looking for a "truer" plumeria, you might want to look for a scent listed under Frangapini. Again I think almost all fragrance oils that are florals are blends, not "true" single "note" scents. Check out Oregon Trail Soaps..I'm pretty sure that Susan and Juan have devised some spot on florals though.

I think you just let the gardenina flowers sit and steep in warm (just warmed not hot/boiling) oil and or in the sun. Implements/oil must be very sterile or mold will form. In tahiti where monoi de tahiti (gardenia oil) is popular I believe they use macadamia nut oil as the carrier. :)

Rusted nails don't work. So stop that. And stop w/ the Epsom salts. No fertilizer until next year -- and even then you maynot need any -- until after the tree is well established. And stop the spraying, too. You didn't say where you put the water. Where did you water? (Early on, it must be onto -- and into -- the original rootball much more often than the surrounding soil.)

Gardenia jasminoides is very susceptible to nematodes in the sandy Florida soils. They graft them onto Gardenia thunbergia, a South African gardenia that is resistant to nematodes. Further north into Florida and the Deep South, there is heavier, clay soil which usually don't have nematode infestations. You usually can grow gardenias ungrafted, on their own roots. It is very rare for the G. thunbergia rootstock to take over. G. jasminoides is a pretty vigorous grower and maintains dominance unless the plant is cut below the graft then G. thunbergia will be what regrows. Gardenia thunbergia itself is a nice plant and I don't know why its not grown more as a specimen instead of just used as a rootstock. It grows to around 10-12ft, makes a nice smaller tree. The flowers are white and fragrant and are "flatter" and more pinwheel shaped. It also flowers on and off all year. It is less hardy than G. jasminoides, freezes back below about 23-24F.