Image – Wikimedia/Alpsdake
To know if we should grow our gardenia outside or inside the house, we must ask ourselves what the climate is in our area. And it is that, if we focused only on the resistance of the plant to the cold, we would lack information and we would risk being mistaken. For example: if we planted it in the garden and it turned out that one year it was snowing, we would surely lose it.
So, if we want it to last us a few years, we will ask ourselves how do i know if my gardenia is indoor or outdoorand what we must take into account if we grow it indoors or outdoors.
Contents
Does the gardenia resist the cold?
This is one of the most important things we need to know. How cold hardy are gardenias? Does it withstand frost and/or snowfall? Depending on the answer, we will put it in one place or another.
Also. Our protagonist is an evergreen shrub native to China. It is estimated that there are more than a hundred varieties (to be more exact, some 134 different ones, the gardenia jasmine the most cultivated in Europe). these plants they are very sensitive to coldbut some cultivars can withstand frost, such as these:
- Gardenia jasminoides ‘Belmont’
- Gardenia jasminoides ‘Frostproof’
- Gardenia jasminoides ‘Pinwheel’
- Gardenia jasminoides ‘Kleim’s Hardy’
All these are resistant down to -10ºC.
Special case: gardenias freshly purchased from the nursery
Gardenias are often labeled as houseplants in nurseries and have been grown as such. This means that they have spent their whole life in a greenhouse and therefore do not know the cold. For this reason, If we are interested in having them in the garden and we live in a place where there can be a slight frost, what we will do is gradually accustom them to the climate of the area.
To do this, we will take them out in the spring, when the temperatures will remain above 15ºC, we will put them in the shade or partial shade, and we will start fertilizing them with an acid plant fertilizer about two weeks later. and until the end of summer. Later we will protect them with anti-freeze fabric, but only this year; from the next day we will not put anything on it. They may suffer a little, but little by little they will get used to it.
Should it be inside or outside the house?
Now that we know that she can withstand cold and even sub-zero temperatures, it will be much easier for us to decide whether to grow her indoors or outdoors. But for this I want to say something: even if a plant is resistant to cold, its nature cannot be ignored. Let me explain: the gardenia is a shrub found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions, and this is because it is much better adapted to living in these places, with mild temperatures.
Although a specific, short-term frost does not hurt, if the winter lasts too long or it is very cold, then in the spring it will take longer to resume growth. That’s why many times it’s best to have it inside the house, because we’ll make sure it doesn’t shut down, except maybe in the colder weeks of the year if the house is like that, cool.
Is it possible to always have it inside?
Yes of course. But for that you have to take good care of yourselfthat is to say that it is planted in a pot with holes filled with a specific substrate for acid plants (like this one), that it is watered and fertilized regularly, and above all, that it is kept away from drafts.
For more information, we recommend reading this other article:
Related article:
What is gardenia care?
Where to place the gardenia: in the sun or in the shade?
It is a plant that you need to be in a place where there is a lot of clarity. Also, if we are going to have it outdoors, it will not be a bad idea to place it in an area exposed to the sun from the morning or late in the afternoon. You can’t give it all day – let alone at noon – because its leaves will burn, but if you give it just an hour or two it will be very good.
At home you will need to be in a room with windows that let in natural light. But it’s also important to avoid hitting it directly. Therefore, it cannot be next to the glass, otherwise it will burn.
Does it withstand the wind?
When we are interested in growing a plant, we sometimes wonder if it should be in the sun or in the shade, indoors or outdoors,… but if it can withstand the wind or no, it’s something you don’t always think about. If we live in an area where it usually blows frequently and/or strongly, it is important to know whether the gardenia can withstand it or not so as not to have unpleasant surprises.
And on this subject it should be known that can withstand mild wind, but if the area is particularly windy, we will have to protect it. This can be done by placing it, for example, near other plants that cut the wind a little, or by putting it indoors.
The gardenia is a very beautiful shrub. We hope you can enjoy it for a long time.