General Description/History

Prized for their scent, gardenias are popular wedding flowers, or for use as buttonholes or in table arrangements. With their white velvety petals and dark green foliage they make excellent buttonholes. They have very short stems which means it is sometimes difficult to keep them in water – many people float them in saucers of water rather than trying to use a vase.

Language: ‘secret love’, ‘purity and refinement’

What to look for

• Fully open flowers
• Clean crisp petals with no brown marks

Flower Care

1. Must be keep cool at all times – refrigerate in a sealed container.
2. Stems are too short to recut.
3. Float in saucer of water or place in cotton wool soaked with preservative – make sure cotton wool does not dry out.
4. Always use a preservative.
5. Replace water in saucer with fresh preservative every day.
6. Touching gardenia petals can induce brown marks – only touch the stem.
7. Misting can also induce petal browning.

Interesting Facts about this Flower

Gardenias are hard to grow in the garden in southern Australia as they need humid conditions and can languish during our dry summers.
In the Language of Flowers gardenia signifies ‘secret love’, ‘purity and refinement’.

Botanical Name: Gardenia augusta syn. Jasminoides

Common Names: Cape Jessamine, Common Gardenia

Stem Length: 10 to 20 cm

Country of Origin: East Asia

Available Colours: White

Season: Summer,Winter

Availability: January,June,July,August,Decemeber