When you think of fall planting, you might ask, “What is my favorite shrub?” Without hesitation, I would answer: gardenias, with hydrangeas as a close second. I love any plant that flowers, but why gardenias?
Gardenias have five traits many gardeners are looking for:
- They are evergreens, meaning they do not lose their leaves in the winter. This is a plus when the shrub can be seen from the road.
- They produce white, fragrant flowers.
- They come in three sizes.
- They are deer-resistant and suffer from few, if any diseases.
- Most varieties will grow in USDA hardiness zones 7-10. Caution: make sure you read the plant tag and purchase only plants that are cold hardy for zone 7.
When I was a child growing up in Pennsylvania, my dad would give my sister and me a corsage every Easter to wear with our new Easter outfit. My favorite corsage flower was always the gardenia because of its enticing smell. As a child, I assumed they came from some exotic foreign location since they did not grow in any Pennsylvania gardens. What a pleasant surprise when I moved to Georgia and found that I could plant them in my garden! Most gardenias thrive in planting zones 7-10b, but some species, are not as cold hardy, and are suggested for zones 8-11. Most of North Fulton County is in zone 7b, and the rest of Fulton County in zones 7b and 8a. A word of caution: Recently some horticulturalists based on global warming concerns and increasing seasonal temperatures, have identified North Fulton County as zone 8a. The reason I add caution to this change in the planting zone of our area to zone 8 is our unpredictable winters.
Last winter and spring are a good example. The winter was exceptionally mild, but do you remember December 23 and December 24, 2022? On December 23, the temperatures in North Fulton County reached a low of 8 degrees, and the following…
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