I have a lot of other frangrant plants in the yard (confederate jasmine, honeysuckle, lilac, roses, lavender, four o'clocks,nicotiana) from reading online it didn't sound like a single Frostproof plant could hold it's own in that company. It sounds like you are confiming this?

Frostproof is less fussy, more cold hardy, a compact and attractive plant. The flowers aren't as showy or strongly fragrant like those tree Gardenias but that doesn't mean it's a lesser plant. I prefer Frostproof over any of the other cultivars, but that's just me.
If I have space though I would overload myself with tuberose, which to me has a much finer scent than Gardenia or Jasmine sambac, and the fragrance is incredibly strong at night.

While you are at it, look into Michelia Figo (Banana Shrub) and Osmanthus Fragrans (Sweet Tea Olive) as well. Both of these plants should be zone-8 hardy.

It sounds like our our taste in plants may be dead opposites lol. I agree with you that tuberose is fantastic, although I mostly use it in pots so it doesn't get lost in flowerbeds.

'Showy' and 'Strongly Fragrant' are pretty much my top two qualifications. A plant can be as fussy as it wants if it is a showstopper.

My sister had a Sweet Tea Olive for a while, and while the scent it beautiful the flowers did nothing for me and I am not a fan of foliage plants at all.

Ah I see! :) I'm more into fragrance than showy appearance so I hope someone else could chime in with the suggestions.

I like the look of First Love (Aimee) but I'm not sure how hardy it is. Mystery could too, we don't know 'til we try right? Happy gardening! :)

i grow 'mystery' and consider it (the shrub and flowers) to be the most beautiful in form of the ones that i grow. it grows to become and 8' rounded shrub here and blooms around memorial day. the flowers are large and very fragrant and the foliage is large,dark, shiny green. our summers can be hot and dry and winters rather mild and wet. i give my gardenia plants shade from the hot afternoon sun and they seem to appreciate it. the flowers last longer, anyway. acidic soil conditions should be provided or the leaves will yellow.
you might also consider 'august beauty' if you want a more upright shrub. it will also rebloom moderately in late summer/early fall and the flowers/leaves are smaller than those of 'mystery'.
they all don't seem to mind pruning if your space is limited.

Thanks Jeff,
I went ahead and ordered "Mystery" tonight. From what you day it sounds like a good match for my yard. It sounds like our summer/winter conditions are similar and acidic soil certainly isn't a problem...

I can discredit the comment above about Frost Proof Gardenia being hardy in zone 6. I'm in zone 7, planted five of them and 95% of leaves on them are now black and I'm guessing they're dead. I do love the scent of Frost Proof Gardenia, did get to smell them blooming when I bought them last summer but they can't even handle our zone 7 winter!

Mine froze this winter also, here close to Puget Sound (but up above it). You are probably actually in USDA 8 as well, but it makes no difference in this case of this plant.

Thank you both, can you tell me if they were first year plants? I had planned on some winter protection (a cloche or something similiar) for at least the first year.

This is a helpful thread...just giving it a bump for any other comments as I'm also wondering whether these plants that died were young/given any protection ...

Mystery isn't going to make it outside in the PNW, my Kleim's Hardy is barely alive. It is not new, three years I've limped it along. It freezes to the ground every year and only bloomed the first.

We do not have the heat and sun they need to thrive like they do have in the South. USDA climate zones only take cold into account so plants that thrive in GA and NC zone 8 or even 7 often don't here.

I grow gardenias here but in my heated greenhouse...

If you want Gardenia strength fragrance without the fuss plant Daphne odora and cneroum. :)

I've read through numerous comments & reviews from different sites, and this is what I've found:

Chuck Hayes is supposed to be particularly suited for the PNW. This may be because it tolerates the hot dry summers better, or it may be it is able to grow a bit better in the cooler earlier part of the growing season, perhaps because it's one of the few hardy varieties that's not dwarfed in growing habit.

One person in Alabama commented their Frostproof gardenias did not survive in their zone 7/6b climate. (Perhaps she should have covered them with a bag and mulch to protect them)

I read that hardy gardenias can make it through the Winter in Southern New Jersey, zone 7, if planted in a somewhat protected site close to a wall and out of the wind. Frostproof, Daisy, variegata, and Chuck Hayes have all survived there.

Someone in East Tennessee, zone 6b/7a, said that their Frost Proof had been hit hard by two Winters in a row, wasn't doing well, and from the looks of it he expected it would not survive the next Winter. He claimed it was growing right next to a Mystery which was 8 feet tall, and he also said Daisy and Chuck Hayes did well for him. This could be a fluke because obviously Mystery is not [supposed to be] as hardy as Frost Proof. There are several potential explanations, like maybe it was mislabeled, or maybe what was killing it was the Summer not the Winter.

[https://www.houzz.com/discussions/newer-gardenias-for-zone-6-dsvw-vd~1914658[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/newer-gardenias-for-zone-6-dsvw-vd~1914658) (post #4)

These reports are from the South and I haven't read any reports of gardenias surviving in anything less than zone 8 in the cooler PNW.

Some comments said that the wet rainy cold Winters can cause the roots to rot, so they should be planted in a very well drained location. Perhaps covered with a plastic sheet over the Winter to prevent the soil getting too wet.

Someone else commented that they planted a Kleim's Hardy in Tacoma up against a house which was growing fine outside for 5 years.

Someone else in Oregon, zone 8, said they had three Kleim's Hardy gardenias that had survived a Winter outside in pots, and then after being planted in the ground they did great and put out many flowers.

Mark Clipsham commented on Permies.com: "I visited Seattle about two years ago and was surprised to see gardenias that had been hacked back because they had gotten overgrown among other things." Not sure how much truth there could be to that, it does sound a little bit exaggerated, or could be possible he misidentified the plant.

Someone left this comment: " Some of the Gardenias that we use in the Pacific Northwest are the following Kleim’s Hardy, Frost Proof, and Chuck Hayes. ... I have a number of clients growing gardenias successfully in the Seattle area "

https://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1429001/#b

Someone else commented he read a post from a member in this forum who has gardenia Veitchii growing in the ground in Bremerton.

https://forums.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/threads/pittosporum-tobira.38558/ (post #6)

(Veitchii is not a hardy variety, and if the variety was actually Veitchii it was probably surviving due to luck)

A comment by someone else in Olympia, WA: "Really bad winters only happen about every 5-7 years. I try not to grow anything more than a zone warmer than my location (8a) and I protect plants to made sure they don’t have foliage damage. I don’t get depressed when a plant dies, I look at it as a new opportunity to try a new plant or better variety. I did some experimenting with foliage hardiness this time around. For example its taken me years of trail to finally fine the best gardenia for the PNW and (for the right one to come along). That gardenia is called ‘frost proof’. With just a cardboard box over it I was able to save two flower buds left over from summer."

post by Palm Crazy, Dec 11, 2013, http://www.palmtalk.org/forum/index.php?/topic/39495-winter-weather/&page=2

Here's a special rare cold hardy variety 'Crown Jewel', which seems to have done well over the Winter:

Jan 28

Olympia, WA (zone 8a)

(to be completely fair it is near up against the southern-facing nook of a house)

The leaves are all green, and have only turned a tiny tint paler, less vibrant green, than they normally would be because of the cold conditions, but that's to be expected.

There's a flower on one of my bushes.

It smells fragrant, but smells a little more in the fruity direction from a regular gardenia.

I can provide an update. I planted a gardenia that was sold as the variety 'Summer Snow'. It has survived outside, although this winter has been mild as far as how far the temperature actually dropped. However, I can tell by the appearance of the leaves that this variety does not have the same level of cold tolerance as 'Crown Jewel'. The leaves on Crown Jewel look perfectly fine and unaffected, while the leaves on the Summer Snow look just a little yellowish-green in hue and a little wilty, though still alive and look like they will recover okay.