Hard to kill - according to the ghosts of all my gardenias past, they were not told that. I will try to inch it into the south light. (It will be in the shade after noon). It's starting to drop buds. I'm pretty sure that I am being penalized for moving it outside (not that it would have been happy inside.) Thanks!

Dig around the drip line (outermost edge of the leaves) preferably with a garden fork. Be prepared to water it well through the summer and give it some root stimulator. If you plant it in full sun, try to rig up some way to give it some shade in the hottest parts of the afternoon. You can also prune back about 1/3 of the plant to help you move it and to help prevent water loss thru the leaves.

Recently planted gardenias or recently purchased ones for the inside home tend to lose buds because the environmental conditions in the nursery vary greatly from those outside/inside your home. As you will see, they are incredibly picky regarding bud formation. They will bloom in the spring and, depending on your weather, they will bloom again during the Fall. I once had them bloom during the spring, summer and Fall. But I usually only expect spring bloomage. If I get "extras", I consider myself lucky. Proper temperatures are necessary to force gardenia into bloom. No flower buds set at night temperatures above 65 degrees. Night temperature above 65 degrees causes drop of buds already formed. Ideal forcing temperatures are 65 to 70 degrees during the day and 60 to 62 degrees at night. The flowering response requires 14 hour nights. The flower buds can drop due to low humidity or a sudden environmental change. Flower buds fail to form if day temperatures are higher than 70 or night temperatures are less than 60 degrees. High soil pH can also causes lack of flower bud formation (as well as chlorosis. Leaf drop, possibly delayed, can be caused by cold drafts, improper watering, excessive fertilization, or several consecutive dark cloudy days. Fertilize monthly between Spring and Fall (stop around early September?). And yes, you can fertilize when it has flower buds if it is during the time frame above. Luis

Welcome to the support group! I am struggling with my gardenia killing addiction. So far the other plants that haven't died at my hands (yet) are a hardy 'african gardenia', which really isn't a gardenia, the flowers are small but I love their smell! I got it for my mom, so that one probably won't die. I'm trying to get her addicted to gardenias again..she's killed before too. Maybe that's where I get my genes for this affliction I have. Even though I do kill gardenias, I did get a truculent one to bloom for me (before I killed it), someone on this board suggested giving it more sun (it was potted, and got shade half of the day), and it worked! Really! I have photos, I swear! :D Gardenia's are psychic, that's all I have to say. They KNOW if you care about them, and they will self destruct if they pick up on that emotion. So, be warned. Here's the plants I've killed (accidentally, not the ones I did purposefully): australian finger lime passiflora (a red one) a fig tree a lemon tree a gardenia a 'hardy' gardenia a pomegranate a jasmine plant (that I grew from seed for years, and then it died before it would bloom!) There were others, but these are the most recent that I can remember. Misery loves company, right? ;) Welcome to the support group, ha ha! There is also the plant and/or seed exchange forum here, if you want to get plants cheap.