Stan I have a gardenia that is full of buds. As soon as the buds seem ready to open, the stamen underneath goes black (dried up) and the bud falls off the plant. I've checked for mites (none) ... the plant gets bright light from south and west, I water it regularly, and the plant is away from any drafts. Your insight into this would be greatly appreciated. I've had the plant since September 2001. One bud did open since that time, but none have made it to the opening stage since. Thanks for your reply. Katy Katy - Gardenias, at the best of time and in the best greenhouse conditions, can be a real challenge, especially with dry and warm conditions inside and very cold and dry conditions outside. All I can recommend to you, is to increase the humidity by a squeeze hand sprayer, and mist the plant with room temp. water 2 or 3 times a day, but not later than 4 in the afternoon. Increase the room temps by 5 degrees, or maintain the plant on a heating pad that would maintain a uniform heat source in the soil. The soil temp. should be at least 72 to 78 F. If not fertilized in the last 10 days, apply a triple 20 solution fertilizer the day after a good soaking. Let the plant drip dry, then fertilize. These plants do well in a large patio-type pot, and when our weather begins to level off as summer evenings, the gar. can be grown outdoors in a wind sheltered area. Hope this helps.

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