If you’re ready to give gardenias a try, don’t forget that you need plenty of sunlight, and your soil needs to be kept moist at all times. Plus, there are some specific soil, light, and temperature requirements that may take some research to find. But once you plan the perfect environment for gardenias to grow, you’ll see why they’re worth all the effort they smell great and look beautiful!
Gardenias are one of my favorite flowers. They’re related to coffee plants, and like coffee, they have a sweet smell. Gardenias grow in warm climates, and I’ve seen them blooming in Florida in the winter. They’re not easy to grow indoors, but if you can provide the right conditions, they’ll flower for months. Gardenias are worth the effort!
What Is a Gardenia?
It is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It comprises ca. 140 species, most of which are native to tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia, and Australia.
They are are prized for their flowers, which are white or yellow and have a strong sweet scent. The flowers grow in clusters at the end of the branches. Its fruits are fleshy berries that turn from white to black when ripe.
The genus was named by Carl Linnaeus after Dr. Zabdiel Boylston Adams, an American physician and botanist who sent Linnaeus many North American plants specimens.
Gardenia jasminoides is a yellow dye in Eastern Asia, used on textiles and food (including the Korean mung bean jelly called hwangpomuk). Its fruits are also utilized in traditional Chinese medicine for their clearing, relaxing, and cooling properties.
When in evening dress, men in France wear gardenias as their boutonnière. During the Gilded Age, upper-class males from New York City popularized wearing a gardenia in their buttonhole.
Sigmund Freud told the poet H.D. that those flowers were his favorite bloom, according to the psychoanalyst William Alanson White.
Over the course of four years in 1938, Donn Beach, better known as Don the Beachcomber, regularly wore a fresh lei of gardenias at his Tiki bars, allegedly spending $7,800 for flowers. Trader Vic named one of his cocktails the Mystery Gardenia. Trader Vic frequently added a flower to his Tiki drinks, such as the scorpion and outrigger tiara cocktails.
When Hattie McDaniel (the first African-American to win an Academy award) accepted an Academy Award for her role in Gone With the Wind, she donned these flowers in her hair. Mo’Nique Hicks subsequently wore gardenias in her hair as a tribute to McDaniel after winning an Oscar.
Cultivation of Gardenia:
They are fragrant plants prized for their beautiful flowers, which can be quite large in some species. Flowers are white, pale yellow, or light pink with tubular-based corolla (botany) containing 5–12 lobes (petals) ranging in length from 5 to 12 centimetres (2.0 to 4.7 inches). The majority of the lavender cultivars blooms from mid-spring through mid-summer and are very fragrant.
Gardenia jasminoides (syn. G. grandiflora, G. Florida) is grown as a houseplant. This species has a reputation for being difficult to cultivate owing to its origin in hot, humid tropical regions. It needs high humidity and bright (not direct) light to grow properly. It prefers a soil that is slightly acidic and drains well, with [20-23 C temperatures (68-74 F)] during the day and 15-16 C (60 F) at night. Gardenia potting soils are available. When cultivated indoors, G. jasminoides does not grow bigger than 18 inches tall and 12 inches broad. It may reach a height of 6 feet when cultivated outdoors in climates where it is possible. If the flowers are exposed to water, they will become brown.
F.A.Q
What is the origin of the gardenia flower?
The Gardenia plant is believed to be one of the most popular and famous flowering plants, native to both Africa, Asia and the islands of Madagascar. It has been scientifically proven that Gardenia is a genus of flowering plants in the coffee family, Rubiaceae.
What does gardenia symbolize?
The meaning of the gardenia is something that depends on the color of the flower. If it is white or clear, then it symbolizes purity and gentleness. But if there are extra colors in it, then it has a different meaning of secret love and joy
