Daisy Duke™ Gardenia

Recent years have seen a ‘Gardenia revolution’. Interest has shifted from the classic double forms, dating back to a lost era of Southern charm, grand balls and suspect plantation fantasies. Cold-tender and tricky to grow, those old plants are fading from interest. Today, in an era of modern, low-maintenance gardening, and a desire for simplicity and easy-to-grow plants, those difficult old varieties are being replaced by bushes that you might not even realize are gardenias. Much more cold-resistant, these fast-growing, rounded bushes carry an abundance of single, daisy-like flowers for a long season through spring and summer. But don’t worry, they still release the heady, tropical fragrance that instantly says, ‘gardenia’, and that is so loved by perfumiers. The Daisy Duke™ Gardenia is a perfect example of this new breed. Tough and cold-resistant well into zone 6, the rich green foliage is evergreen, and holds its warm greenness in cold and shade. Naturally almost a perfect ball, it needs no careful pruning for shape, and the flowers, a full 2-inches across, are daisy-shaped, but with thick petals, and have a yellow heart and a heart-wrenching fragrance. Step into a new, free generation of gardenia growing – you and your gardenia deserve it.

Growing the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia

Size and Appearance

The Daisy Duke™ Gardenia is a small evergreen shrub, growing into a broad mound of dense branches, and reaching around 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide in 5 years or so. It remains leafy to the ground and needs no trimming, unless you want a perfect round profile. The many leaves are oval, averaging about 1½ inches long and ¾ inch wide. They are smooth, glossy and deep, rich green. This variety has exceptionally good retention of mature foliage through the coldest winter months, and also retains its deep green coloring in winter, as well as even when grown in considerable shade.

In spring you will see green flower buds developing in abundance, on every growing tip, and they grow rapidly. The buds are normally carried in pairs at the end of every branch, even smaller side-branches. These open into charming single flowers with 6 radiating petals. The flowers are well-sized, a generous 2 inches across, and the petals have the thick, dense texture typical of gardenia flowers. In the center of each flower is an upright cluster of bright yellow, accented by a 6-pointed star of beige-yellow stamens. Flowers are pure white when they first open, gradually turning soft creamy yellow, and then shriveling and dropping naturally. No tedious dead-heading is required. Of course, let’s not forget the big event – the magnificent fragrance that flows from every blossom, filling the surrounding air. The perfume – coveted by all the top perfumiers – is a heady floral, resembling jasmine or tuberose, but with some fruity tones too. Tropical, it also has a gentle tang, and a creamy coconut element too.

Flowering begins in mid to late spring, and continues for weeks, well into the summer months. After blooming the bush remains a great garden element, with its rich green, glossy foliage.

Using the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia in Your Garden

With it’s hardiness, vigor and relaxed blooms, the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia opens up new possibilities for using these plants in your garden. It’s perfect for everything from bold round accents, to informal hedges, and can be grown alongside azaleas, beneath camellia bushes, and in all beds, from evergreen shrubbery to beds of flowers. It is also of course perfect for pot-growing, so you can place it on a terrace. This is a great way to grow them if you don’t have suitable soil conditions. Pots are hardy through winter outdoors from zone 8, and in colder areas can be easily kept in a bright room, preferably cool, for the winter months.

Hardiness

Most gardenias are hardy only to zone 8 or 7. The remarkable Daisy Duke™ Gardenia has been tested successfully right down to – 5o F, meaning it is hardy through all but the coldest parts of zone 6. Plus, it retains foliage in those conditions very well, with little leaf dropping and no yellow. Of course it also grows well all through zone 10, opening up gardenia growing to a wide group of people.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

For maximum blooming and growth, plant the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia in a spot with plenty of morning sun, but some shade in the afternoon. Especially in the colder zones, several hours of direct sunlight each day is essential for sufficient growth. In warmer zones it will also grow in broken dappled shade, such as beneath the canopy of tall deciduous trees. Avoid heavy shade and the gloom beneath low-growing evergreens.

The soil should be acidic, with a pH value of no more than 6, and as low as 4.5. The soil should also be rich in humus and organic matter, so add plenty of lime-free compost, rotted leaves or even peat moss when preparing your planting spot. Use these materials also as annual mulch, added in late spring over the whole root zones, avoiding the trunk and foliage.

Maintenance and Pruning

Gardenias have a reputation for being ‘difficult’, but really they aren’t – they just have some specific needs. Light and soil we have already mentioned. As well, never cultivate the soil around the roots, which are shallow and easily damaged. A good balance if watering is the final ‘secret’, and the goal is, ‘not too wet, not too dry’. Never water plants if the soil is already moist, but don’t let more than the top inch or so dry out, especially from late spring to early fall. Gentle trickly irrigation is usually better than big soakings, but never water unevenly. Young plants benefit from some liquid fertilizer blended for gardenias or azaleas, but once well-established that annual mulch will take care of their food needs.

In pots, make sure you have good drainage, and never leave standing in a saucer of water. Use potting soil blended for acid loving plants and feed regularly with liquid fertilizer for plants of that type.

Pruning is not necessary, but if you do want to prune, do it as soon as the last blooms fall, as at other times you will be removing flower buds – not what you want to be doing!

History and Origin of the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia

The most common gardenia in gardens is Gardenia jasminoides. Originally coming from China, it is often called ‘Cape Jasmine’, but this is a confusion with another species (Gardenia thunbergia) which comes from southern Africa. You may also see it listed with a much older name, as ‘Gardenia augusta’. It has been grown in America for centuries, first arriving in Charleston in 1762.

Robert (‘Bob’) Head is a well-known plant breeder who lives in Seneca, South Carolina. He has a great reputation for his Bloom-A-Thon reblooming azaleas, but he also breeds gardenias. In 2010 he was looking at a batch of an older variety called ‘Daisy’, when he spotted something. One branch on one bush was denser, neater and more tightly branched, and when he grew it via cuttings into a separate plant the new plants were smaller and very bushy. He named it RLH-GA1’, and was granted a patent in 2019. The plant has been released to gardeners with the trademark name of Daisy Duke™.

Buying the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia at the Tree Center

If you live in zones 6 and 7, and enjoy gardenias, then the Daisy Duke™ Gardenia is especially for you. For everyone, though, this tough, reliable plant is a ‘new wave’ of gardenias, turning them from slightly stuffy and hard to grow plants into easy garden plants for everyone. Try it yourself and you will see how true this is. These modern plants are taking off, so order while we still have stock, or miss out.