Gardenias, garden

 Janie's mother loved gardenias and got a small potted plant every Spring. Once we moved here, she would give us the plants after they bloomed. I had them in pots for a while and then planted them out in the garden near some large trees. They grew to over 7ft. tall. We just had one of those trees, a beautiful hickory, taken down as it was 90% dead and rotting. Unfortunately the tree guys had to drop big pieces of the trunk as they removed it, crushing a few of the gardenias. So I have cut them back and will trim them up over the coming year. A few branches were happy to bloom for us.

Monstera leaf, garden

Before we head off to sunny Provence, a look at one of my favorite subjects.
 

Gardenia, Garden, Roscoe

 

One of our gardenia bushes, garden.

when we first moved here, 27 years ago, my mother-in-law used to get gardenia plants at the florist to have that lovely scent, her favorite, in her apartment. When the flowers faded, she would give me the plant and tell me to plant them where they got afternoon shade. I put them under our two trees by the Intracoastal Waterway and watered them when it got dry. They have thrived and are now 8 feet tall and covered with blooms for three weeks at the end of April and beginning of May.