I bought this gardenia plant last November, it was green and lush and covered with buds. I expected the flowers and their lovely fragrance to last through the holidays. I watered and misted it regularly, placed it near a sunny window, yet, to my horror the buds fell off one by one, the leaves curled up and dried.
I did not give up and kept feeding it, I would even place it inside the shower after I had used it, to give it even more humidity. Buds would appear, but they either turned into leaves or fell off…
Until today! The first flower blossomed this morning! As fragrant as ever!!! What joy!! These plants are high maintenance but that makes the rewards even sweeter!!
Speaking of persistence, at the same time I had purchased the gardenia, I had also bought an orchid. But this one was in full glorious bloom! Then one day all the flowers fell off… I figured I must have killed it with too much watering… So I threw it away…and bought a new one…as spectacular as the first, and it too lost all its flowers one day. Now I could not continue killing plants and buying new ones. This had to stop!
I could give up on orchids and stay with the safe African violets but I hated to be defeated. I asked around and was told that as long as the leaves at the base of the plant look healthy, the plant is alive and will bloom again. Hard to believe when all you see is a dry looking crooked stem, but I decided to wait and see… Welll… guess what?? I found three flower buds on it today! Lets see if they too will bloom. Spring is definitely in the air!
Gardenias are very beautiful flowers…and one of my favorite songs is called blue gardenias…but this one is white and none the less beautiful. Talking of beauty, perseverance is only one of your many beautiful qualities Eve…