The long stress of waiting for Gardenia to bloom is finally over, I am so thrilled. The wonderful thing about working with nature is the beauty of the many blossoms we find in gardening.

I don't know if you have seen the Gardenia 'Aimee' / 'First Love' thread. I fell in love with the flowers so I lust after the gorgeous lush, robust growth with blossoms and hope to be able to find it in my neck of the woods.

Look what came home with me this weekend. It's not the best looking one but it's half way decent for the Gardenia available at the box stores. It was beginning to bud and the price was right, lol.

For me, all sambac has been growing a bit slower this year too. It may have been the crazy weather that is effecting their growth who know!

Do you have J. 'Mysore Mulli'? It has a several layer flower petal. Quite pretty! This variety has proven to be a more vigorous grower for me than any other sambac varieties. I think if you would try it you would be much happier with it.

I wish I remembered where I bought that plant, lol. I have not been keeping record. If the memory still serves me correctly I believe it is from Loogee's long ago before the transition of the ownership took place. My plant is now a good sized one. Mother nature must be on my side. ;-]

Nurseries in NJ Bhatia also list this plant in their catalog, thou I have never bought anything from them. I did visit their site, from looking at their photos it appears to be the same gorgeous J. 'Mysore Mulli' as mine.

I rarely use fertilizer on my plants. When I do, Osmocote 14-14-14 appears to work well for me. I just sprinkle it on top of the soil when the plants start growing in spring and 2-3 times a year a weak solution of fish emulsion just to keep the leaves looking lush and withstand the hot summer sun here.

These Jasmine plants are outdoor growing. None of the plants get any fertilizer at all during the winter. I just keep them well-well watered like I do at any time of the year.

Hope this covers your questions.

Seriously, other than I have already stated above response to Kandhi I just let them be. As you probably have noticed I like my plants in large containers [Never mind the need for that container and plant relationship stuff, lol.] and try not to have them water deprived. All in all I am really amazed what just culturing and growing simplicities can do to suit it's self with our environment. Thou, I am continuing to learn still!

One other thing I did notice is that they don't really care to be fertilized all that much. They may boost their growing rate, producing foliage but fewer blooms.

Supannee