Our Gardenias are in bloom. . .I wish you could smell them!
I apologize for there not being a ‘scratch and sniff’ option here ;)
Almost overnight our two shrubs were covered in fragrant blooms and seashell-shaped buds. . .
Our gardenias are 15+ years old. They were here when we bought our house and have thrived since we put in irrigation about eight years ago.
They need to pruned. . .I’m a lazy pruner, maybe after this flush of blooms fades :) In the meantime, they provide us with a living fence and some privacy from our neighbors.
They also give the birds some cover while queued up waiting for their turn at the feeder.
They like morning sun and afternoon shade and fertilizer for acid-loving plants. They get a healthy dose of fertilizer in the spring when I feed the azaleas around them.
“Sultry as a summer evening and as intoxicating as an exotic perfume, the scent of gardenias settles like a memory onto your soul. The blossoms are just as enticing.”
“Buds shaped like seashells unfurl into velvet soft flowers in the warmth and humidity of early evening. But it’s the fragrance that captivates.” ~Southern Living
Our hydrangeas are full of blooms too this year, and a welcome sight after last year!
Thank you for all my encouraging and kind comments on the work around my Potting Shed yesterday! I’ll share my planted perennial bed as soon I get it photographed :)
Thank you for your visit, I’m joining:
Metamorphosis Monday
Just gorgeous! How I wish our zone was warm enough to grow these as perennials, I so love that fragrance!
“Oh what is so rare as a day in June,” to quote the poet. Or a spectacular bush of gardenias! Just so, so lovely.
Gardenia, hydrangeas, and magnolias….that’s the real reason we Southerners are so “house proud”.
Looks wonderful and I swear I can smell them from here in VA :)
Just beautiful! Will need to plant a bush after vacation. Th hydrangeas are so beautiful too!
Thanks so much for such a beautiful sight. Dont get that so much here in Michigan. Karen
Just beautiful! I KNOW I can smell the fragrance from them up here in Rhode Island!
Beautiful Mary, I can’t imagine the fragrance filled air~ You really are creating your own private botanical gardens, your potting shed project is over the moon fantastic, your energy, creativity and passion for plants is breathtaking! I hope Mother Nature provides the weather your new plants need to thrive…
Jenna
I can close my eyes and smell them. We would get them for corsages for Prom and the smell was so intoxicating. Brings back fond memories.
what incredible beauties. I can only think that the fragrance is heaven itself! thanks for sharing
I do wish I could smell them! They are so pretty and have one of the best fragrances! I’m wallowing in the scent of my lilacs right now. Love this time of year!
Gorgeous..absolutely gorgeous!! ❤️❤️❤️
How PRETTY!! I can close my eyes & remember that fragrance from the two bushes we had on either side of our lanai in FL. Wonderful memories. I would pick a few & float them in a crystal bowl on the coffee table, just to bring that smell inside.
I think if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I’m putting in a request for me to be relocated to NC!!!
I adore gardenias, love that sweet fragrance! Gorgeous photos of your blooms.
The scent from our dwarf gardenias has been incredibly beautiful this spring, unfortunately they are fading here in eastern North Carolina. Our Magnolia trees and some hydrangeas are in full bloom. When the weather permitted I kept the door to the garden open for days so that the fragerance would permeate the house. We have had lots of rain here all good for the flowers. I enjoy opening my emails daily just to see what exciting and new ideas you have to share with us.
LOVE LOVE LOVE gardenias but like azaleas, in TX they require a major time commitment to thrive. Yours are beautiful!
Love your photos of your gardenias and they are a great favorite of mine also. Etherial is the word that comes to my mind describing the fragrance. Do you have a problem with scale and black powdery mildew? I’ve had this problem this year especially.
I’ve had good luck rooting gardenias hoping for a privacy hedge as you have. The variety I’ve rooted has larger blooms and is an old fashioned one that I haven’t seen in the nurseries in a number of years. That’s why I decided to try my hand at rooting them and of course it is a slow way to go.
Love the quote from Southern Living.
Oh,MY! I can just smell the heavenly fragrance. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, I cannot grow gardenias in my area, but I love them nintheless.
Absolutely beautiful! I’m also adoring those hydrangeas – such a nice, soft blue from them. Thanks for sharing!
Your gardenia blooms are out of this world gorgeous! I love your photographs, each one heavenly!
Lovely, sweet purity.
Must check to see what varieties “might” bloom in Central Virginia…yours look scent-sational!! franki
Mary, I don’t think there is a more lovely scent than gardenias wafting through the air! Gorgeous photography! Pam @ Everyday Living
Simply Beautiful!
Absolutely gorgeous photos!!! I can smell them through the computer!!! We just finished our gardenia season here in Phoenix and I floated many in a bowl in the front hall. Thanks for sharing!
Oh Mary, can’t you invent scratch and sniff for our computers?? I’d so love to inhale that lovely gardenia fragrance. Your shrubs are enormous and don’t they look beautiful with your hydrangeas? You have such a green thumb and we are the lucky recipients of your magical hands! I’m looking forward to seeing your newly planted perennial bed. We’ve had so much rain here in Texas, that we don’t even need to turn on our sprinkler systems.
Happy weekend to you!
My one gardenia bush has bloomed profusely for the first time this year (before this year, it had only graced us with a handful of flowers each season) but nothing as generous as yours! Amazing!
Beautiful Mary! Love the Gardenias; how enchanting! I wish there was a scratch and sniff app; I would have it! Have a wonderful weekend enjoying nature’s beauties <3
~Mary~
Thanks for sharing your beautiful blooms!! I noticed them while we were in Savannah, or those were Magnolia trees and smelled wonderful !! I love this time of year when everything is blooming, wish it would be like this all year long !!
Paula
IN
Gorgeous, indeed! I wish both of these would thrive in our garden. I tried growing a gardenia standard some years ago. It, too, eventually didn’t make it under my care. ‘-( Thanks for sharing all this beauty. Yes, I wish the fragrance would come through the screen. Happy Weekend!
Stunning! I wish i could smell it! They are SO white -looks heavenly! Hope my hydrangeas bloom this year. My one plant just gets a lot of leaves and the other did well the first year and then only about 1/2 as many pretty blooms. Maybe I need to fertilize more? Any suggestions Mary?
Hi Cyndi, Our hydrangeas didn’t have many blooms last year due to a late winter freeze. There’s a great article on hydrangeas by type and why they might not be blooming here.
Very pretty! They don’t grow outside here but my Grandmom had one in the house and she had pretty good luck with it blooming. Enjoy the flowers Mary, they’re beautiful:@)
Thank you for sharing all the beautiful flowers and your creativity. May sound crazy, but I consider moving to a place where more flowers and greenery grows. The desert has some beautiful plants but not lush and as floral as other parts of the country–like yours! So, I appreciate all of your wonderful photography of nature.
Beautiful gardenias!..We planted gardenia topiaries one year and they did not make it through the winter…I would love to try it again…Always had them in Florida…your hydrangeas are gorges….in such a wonderful setting with the gardenias….so beautiful…an enchanted garden for sure!
Love the photos of your abundant gardenias. The fragrance is wonderful and I use a gardenia spray when I go out. Have a good Sunday.
Your gardenias are beautiful. We are not able to grow these in Michigan. I love the foliage, too. Thank you for sharing.
Ours are blooming, too. I need to bring some inside and place them in a bowl because they smell like heaven!
Ours have almost finished blooming for a while, but they always bloom again. This year they were laden, just like yours. My husband puts coffee grounds on the bush. I only have room for one, but it is really coming along in that small space. Yours are outstanding!
such a glorious profussion! i adore gardenias, mine don’t grow as lush as yours in hot dry heat, but that fragrance is unbeatable no matter how thin the bush may be! can you belive how much your garden has grown since you started blogging ;-)
OH! I can almost smell them!!!!They are gorgeous. Can you give me a tip on them? I have a gardenia topiary that we bring in for the winter but it never flowers alot. What do you fertilize them with? Thanks!!
Mary, I found myself subconsciously inhaling when you mentioned the scratch ‘n sniff! Oh, if only!!! But your photos make them so real even through the computer. I have never seen an entire bush filled with flowers like yours! Just magnificent. You must love being outside in your yard. I noticed your bird feeder — we have to take ours in after April or May because we have bears and they are attacking the feeders. We just keep the hummingbird feeder out. I must scroll back up now and enjoy more of this beauty! Linda