GARDENIA, 
85 
GARDENIA, (or cape jasmine.) 
Is a splendid plant, and is much admired for the 
delightful fragrance of its fine white flowers. It is 
easy to keep, and not so liable to be injured by too 
much water as many other plants. The Gardenia 
likes a good rich moist soil, a mixture of peat and good 
loam, and decayed vegetable mould, about equal parts, 
and a little sand may be added, if necessary to lighten 
it. The best time to shift the Cape Jasmine is in 
summer, soon after it has done flowering, and when 
shifted it should be placed in the shade and the soil 
kept moist. In winter, if it is kept in the temperature 
of a Greenhouse, it should be placed in the shade, and 
kept rather dry, for if it gets chilled by being too wet 
and cold, its leaves are apt to turn yellow. If placed 
in a conservatory or warm room, it requires to be kept 
moderately moist, and as the weather gets w r arm, it 
should be syringed over its leaves, and in hot weather 
watered freely, and they will soon come into flower. 
If placed in the shade the flowers will continue much 
longer, as the sun scorches them and they turn yel¬ 
low, and soon fade. When set out in the Garden, they 
should be in a shady place, and watered freely in hot 
weather, and be taken into the house before frost. 
When the plants are of a suitable size, they will be 
much forwarded and encouraged in their growth, by 
being placed in a hot bed, early in spring, (in the heat 
of 70 or 80 deg.) but the pots should not be plunged in 
the bed. Water them freely, syringe their leaves, and 
shade them from the noon day sun; they will produce 
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