Thanks for your reply everyone. I was not aware that the gardania was such a fussy plant... sigh. Im just going to ignore it from now on. Today I placed it outside(second day I did this) when I came home at around 6 pm, it looked like there was even more brown leaves on it but the rest of the green leaves had all PERKED UP. Im not sure what to make of this, more brown leaves but better looking green leaves?? I also repotted it in a bigger pot in a mixture of scotts soil, perlite and peat moss. There was no way to loosen the roots, I tried but I was afraid I was going to damage them... I poked a few holes through the middle thinking that maybe this would help the core in receiving some water. I sure hope this helps. My mother in law also got two gardenias that same day as I got my own and hers seem to be doing well enough. sigh.. maybe if mine dies shell give me one of hers... lol

Actually, gardenias are tough, tough plants. I don't know why they have the reputation of being hard to grow, I guess because too many people have gotten a small, potted one and then proceeded to torture it by keeping it indoors in hot, dry, dark conditions, and then often overwatering and rotting the roots as it sat in a decorative pot cover -- the typical Valentine's Day/Easter/Mother's Day gift plant thing. They should bounce back with vigor. I would just pot up to a larger, appropriate sized pot, use a really good quality potting mix like ProMix that is peat and perlite based, and keep them watered. They like to get just barely dry between waterings. I assume you're going to keep them outdoors for the summer -- they will be ok in full sun to partial shade, as long as it's not cooking in extreme afternoon heat. I a few weeks as they recover, I would start feeding about every 10 days with a liquid fertilizer for acid-loving plants. Use some Osmocote, too, if they don't have some from the grower already. The two biggest issues you will encounter with gardenias is 1) that they turn chlorotic easily if the soil pH goes too high, that is a problem in areas with hard tap water, use acid plant fertilizers and trace elements to combat this and 2) they are bug magnets, aphids, scale, white fly, and mites love them. I spray a couple times a year with one of the newer class of insecticides/miticides such as Bayer 3 in 1 Insect/Disease/Mite spray. And I always put imadicloprid in the soil spring and fall. That keeps bugs away. The winter best in cool, dryish conditions. They are temperate zone plants and need a dormancy, but they can't tolerate deep freezing to any significant extent, most are zone 8 or zone 9, such as the really common variety 'August Beauty' which is probably what yours are. I winter mine at about 40-50 degrees, let them get quite a bit drier than in summer but don't let them wilt. When I bring them in in the fall, I generally will prune the top back about 50% just for size control, since they grow rapidly in the summer and my space for wintering is small, but that is completely optional.

The small bug that looked like a grasshopper is probably a grasshopper. I've never heard of grasshoppers causing a major problem on indoor plants. Tiny brown spots could be practically anything. Luckily, it sounds like there aren't many bugs, so if you just keep picking them off as soon as you see them, your plant should be fine. It's normal for bugs to come and sit on your plants, so don't worry! Your gardenia looks very healthy in the picture! You only need to be concerned if there are a LOT of bugs at once or if they start damaging the plant. As for the flowers, I'm sorry, but I don't know how long it will take. It's been a long time since I've cared for gardenias. Just be patient and the flowers should open eventually. If the plant has made new buds, then it's probably happy!

Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! What you described sounds like what I would do in this situation. As long as the plants are getting the amount of light and moisture that they like, what you've described should spur these plants into some serious new growth. On brand-new growth, sunburn probably isn't possible and if they were my plants, I'd be willing to let the old growth burn if necessary to have the plants in as much sun as possible, all day. Separation of the two plants probably isn't necessary from the plants' viewpoints, but no reason not to if you just want to. Sounds like a good way to have 2 or 4 Gardenias instead of 1 to me. In the long term, do you want to care for multiple pots? If yes, go for it! Do you want to try making new plants? Where are those pieces you trimmed off? As long as your soil isn't muddy/soggy/without any air pockets within, as big of a pot as you would like to use is fine. It sounds like Gramma knew that.