From Matt’s Cave

[Jean]

Shirley,

So sorry it took so long to get back to you. My Mom is doing well now. I got back to Michigan and spent days cleaning the house to get ready for the bird sexing clinic. Years of depression and MC left my house pretty messy. I cleaned EVERYTHING. I need to have company more often. Then I got a tooth infection. The pain was so bad that I almost took a vicodin (which contains many of my intolerances). I was almost willing to trade food reactions for pain relief, but opted for wine at 5:00 am and a trip to the dentist as soon as he was able to see me.

Anyway, gardenias are infamous for loosing all of their leaves. They are sensitive to too much and too little water, at least in pots. Sometimes just changing their location causes them to defoliate. Truly black leaves usually indicate frost damage, has it gotten exceptionally cold there? If not, I'd cut back on the water (because there aren't any leaves to use it up) and let it releaf, which it will probably do. Once it's reestablished, I think it will be more tolerant of too much or too little water. Too much fungicide, or spraying when the sun is hot, could cause a problem. Usually you will see brown spots on the leaves, referred to as spray burn.

I obviously have never grown gardenias outside, so I may be missing something. I hope this helps and that I'm not too late.

Love, Jean

[starfire]

WoW Jean!!! What a time you have had. I'm glad it's getting better AND I'm really glad your Mom is doing OK. Hope your dental work won't be too extensive.

Thanks so much for the gardenia information. Possibly it is/was too much water and just being moved from pot to ground. Bill has cut back on the water. Actually, I think he gave up on it.

One thing I'm not sure I mentioned. The leaves turned brown/black from the tip up - not in spots. We did have 1 night with frost but it wasn't a hard frost and the process started quite a while before the light frost.

Anyway, glad you told me that they are infamous for losing their leaves, etc. If it does re-leaf, I'll know better how to care for it.

Thanks a bunch and get some rest. Sounds like you could use some.

Love, Shirley