Gardenia ‘Professor Pucci’

Gardenia 'Professor Pucci' (Gardenia jasminoides 'Professor Pucci') is the large flowered gardenia, and the one to choose when scent matters more than anything else. It reaches about 1.8m tall and 1.5m wide, carrying very large double white blooms through winter into spring, a season earlier than most gardenias. Glossy dark foliage holds the plant together for the rest of the year.

Why you'll love it

• The biggest flowers in the genus. Fully double white blooms, wide enough to fill a hand, and heavily perfumed.
• Flowers when little else does. The main display runs winter into spring rather than mid summer, stretching the scented season.
• Real hedging height. At about 1.8m it screens a fence line, unlike the dwarf gardenias that stop below waist height.
• Heat and humidity tolerant. It holds condition through a subtropical or tropical summer instead of sulking.

Where it works best

Fragrant informal hedge. Plant 1m apart in a single row. The canopies meet at that spacing and give a soft hedge around 1.5m to 1.8m, releasing scent right where people walk past.

Near doors, paths and seating. Perfume is the reason to buy this plant, so put it where you will actually be standing rather than at the back of a bed. A pot 500mm or wider holds one plant closer to 1.2m, though container gardenias want steady water and regular feeding.

Growing Gardenia 'Professor Pucci' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to light shade, with afternoon protection in the hottest inland gardens. It suits tropical, subtropical and warm temperate zones. It tolerates light frost only, so cool temperate, tableland and inland southern gardens need a warm sheltered wall or a pot that can be moved.

Soil. Acidic and free draining, around pH 5 to 6. Dig compost through the bed, raise the planting on heavy clay, and keep mulch off the stem. Keep it away from lime and fresh concrete, the usual cause of a sickly gardenia.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer and never let it dry out while buds are forming, because drought stress makes buds drop. Feed with a gardenia, azalea and camellia fertiliser in early spring and mid summer.

Pruning. Trim once flowering finishes in spring. A light shape each year keeps it dense from the base without costing you the next crop of buds.

What to expect when it arrives

Three sizes are grown: a single tube, 140mm in a pack of 10 and 200mm in a pack of 6. Tubes are young single stemmed plants and the economical way to start a long hedge. The 140mm and 200mm packs arrive matched and already branching, which is what you want when the plants have to line up.

A single tube will not meet the minimum order of $300 before delivery, so most customers order a run or combine sizes. Plants are packed upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Expect new growth within about six weeks in warm conditions, and a worthwhile flowering by the second winter. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• A full guide to growing gardenias
• Compare every gardenia variety we grow
• Browse other fragrant plants
• Planting for scent around the house

Common questions

How far apart do I plant it for a hedge?

One metre apart in a single row gives a continuous informal hedge at about 1.5m to 1.8m. Tighter spacing crowds the roots and makes the base go thin, the opposite of what a hedge needs.

Why are the flower buds dropping before they open?

Bud drop is nearly always water stress or a sudden change in conditions. Keep the soil evenly moist through the budding period, mulch to hold that moisture, and avoid moving a potted plant while it is in bud.

How is it different from a dwarf gardenia?

Size and flower. This one reaches about 1.8m with very large double blooms in winter and spring, while dwarf forms stay under a metre with smaller summer flowers. Choose this one for hedging and scent.