We just bought a really amazing house in New Orleans (Bywater) with a really lovely backyard, and we're sort of making our way through the 3 months of abandonment plus one hurricane it's been through. While I was pruning an unruly gardenia, I uncovered a 1.5-2-foot plumbago hiding under all the extra branches. So yay, pretty discovery! But it's really very very close to the gardenia, like a foot or two from the base. Is that too close? Especially since it looks like plumbago can get pretty big.

I'm thinking it is too close, especially since gardenias are so picky and temperamental in the first place. Can I dig up the plumbago and move it? I don't want to dig around in the ground too much, since see above re: temperamental and picky gardenia roots, but it looks like if I just cut the plumbago to the ground it'll keep coming back anyway. Advice?

This yard is amazing, and pruning/weeding is like freaking archaeology, discovering plants and beds and borders underneath the jungle. And it's my first real actual dirt non-container garden in years. So I'll probably be around here a lot!