Oh wait, nevermind. I just found a new pitcher on both of them this morning. Anyways, I water with distilled water, and let them dry out somewhat over the winter (I keep them somewhat damp over the winter)

I haven't been online 2 c any responses 2 my blog entry for a while and i'm glad 2 c I've had some responses. I really appreciate any advice i can get. I'm currently growing my gardenia indoors in a window that gets great light in the morning and moderate thourhgout the rest of the day. I'm excited 2 say that i now have about 7 beautiful flowers in full bloom on my plant. Its funny how all the buds seemed to grow in at the same time and yet they appear to be growing and blooming in groups at different times. They are so worth all the work. I have some pictures that I'd love to post but I'm not sure at the moment how to do that yet. Its been so long since I've checked this blog but if anyone looks again I was wondering if the gardenia blooms grow bigger the older the plant gets or is the bloom size determined by the type of plant you have? Thank you soooo much

You pick a GWR by feel. When growing a new GWR variety I wait till it they have some give and are no longer firm. Just like other colors each variety will have a point where they taste the best. After picking a few and trying them at different points of ripeness you will determine where to pick each. Some tend to be better when softer. But I always start out trying a new GWR variety when it has give. You never want to wait till one gets to what I call the mushy point. Hard for me to explain. But after you have picked and ate a few you will be able to tell fairly easy. Most varieties will have some color change. A few don't have much at all. I have grown ARGG. It is a good GWR but doesn't usually do well here. Emerald Green is my favorite GWR. I lost most of my GWR's to the hail. I am growing Cherokee Green Pear. Jay

I think that it should be acknowledged that Optimara services a somewhat different market than most AV suppliers. In addition to collectors, who want named plants, they also service the general public, who likely don't want to pay for named plants. Just like the many retail purchases of Moth Orchid, Primrose, various Philodendrons, Peace Lillies, Prayer plants, and Pothos, ... most who purchase AV's from retail outlets don't care if the plant has a tag or not. Discussions with Optimara representatives provided the rationale that, though they initailly labed their retail plants, as their retail business grew, they began to experience complaints that plants were being incorrectly tagged. Some of this occurred at their end, some as the plants were setup in retail outlets, ... and, ultimately, they decided that the best solution was to no longer label their retail plants. OTOH, some of the best shipped plants I've received have been from Selective Gardener. Almost no other vendor ships fully mature plants. They are a little pricey ... but you get good, mature, labeled, pest-free plants. And a lot of the more distinctive and pricier plants, you can occasionally find at your local outlet. Optimara will even send you a heads-up on when new plants are due to arrive, so that you can get the pick of freshly shipped plants. I was disappointed when Optimara stopped labeling their retail plants also, ... but I ultimately realized that none of the other vendors sold tagged retail plants either.