Monkeys Garden's Livingroom garden

Once it finished blooming all the ready buds, I potted this up into a larger pot with some nice acidic soil.

Moved this plant into a larger pot. From what I have read this plant does well with confined roots, so I added some large rocks around the plant to give it less space to grow into (I needed to put it in a largish pot to support the new trellis). I filled in the plant with soil for Mediterranean plants, which drains much better than the standard potting soil I have.

I made a large trellis behind the existing one so that the vines that have been reaching for my other plants have a place to grab on to. As I couldn’t find one that I liked, I made my own out of bamboo stakes and plant-wire (thin wire encased in a sheath of green plastic), as you can see in the picture.

Hopefully, now that it has a place to expand and grow it will bloom again this year.

This plant was left practically unattended while I was away for the Holidays this year, and when I came back it was in a sorry state. In the beginning I gave it an iron chelate boost with regular attention, and this seemed to at least bring it back from the brink, but it never got much better. So I have now decided to take drastic steps instead of let it just fade away.

Yesterday I repotted it, replacing the majority of the soil around the root ball while trying not to disturb the roots. I potted it in acid potting soil, with a high content of decayed plant matter to hold moisture.

Today I clipped all the buds off the plant, being very careful not to remove any tiny leaflets forming around them. This should help the plant concentrate it’s energy in building new leaves, instead of into flowers it could not support. I also worked some horn shavings into the soil to provide a long lasting natural nitrogen boost. I have placed in a bright window that gets only very early morning direct sunlight with a reflector behind it to maximize the indirect light it receives. I am continuing to remove yellowing leaves when the plant releases them.

I hope this helps it survive and return to thriving like the others.

I’ve repotted this in a larger container and I also tried to replace as much as the soil as possible, in an effort to change the soil pH. The Gardenias had an iron deficiency this past year and I want to avoid that in the future.

I’ve repotted this in a larger container and I also tried to replace as much as the soil as possible, in an effort to change the soil pH.

I went to Ikea for kitchen stuff, but you cannot leave the store without walking right past the plants! They do it on purpose to get me, I know it! Well, I have a weakness for heavily scented blooms, and I saw one that was in good condition, with lots of blooms opening, and I just had to rescue her. She’s now in the morning window that gets the least level of direct sunlight (only sunrise to 10) to recover from any shock as I prepare to pot it up and acclimatize it to it’s new home.Eventually she will live next to the large gardenia in the brightest morning window (sunrise to 1 pm).

I am so thrilled! I got up this morning and the large gardenia has opened the first bud after waking up from winter! It’s absolutely gorgeous and the smell … for me one of the best on the planet. I’m very happy the plant is doing so well this year, as over the winter it had developed an iron deficiency while I was in the states for a couple months (too much calcium in it’s water). I switched back to rain water and gave it an iron chelate supplement when I got home, but was worried that it might have lasting effects on the plant. Luckily it seems to have weathered quite well! Teach me to leave out details in my “how to care for my plants” guide!