Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Brand:  J. Berry Nursery

Description:

A classic evergreen shrub, producing fragrant white blooms in spring and fall, above elegant, deep green foliage; a wonderful garden accent plant that also makes a fine hedge; water more often in extreme heat

Ornamental Features

Sweetheart™ Gardenia features showy fragrant white flowers with buttery yellow eyes at the ends of the branches from late spring to early summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its glossy pointy leaves remain dark green in colour throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes

Sweetheart™ Gardenia is a dense multi-stemmed annual with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Sweetheart™ Gardenia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Sweetheart™ Gardenia will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 4 feet. Although it's not a true annual, this slow-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Sweetheart™ Gardenia is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.