My gardenia's have suffered more than anything else from that late freeze we had. Do you know if that is what caused the problem? Looks like a total leaf loss on mine. They are brown and crispy!

It seems for yellowing everyone has their own idea. I use iron and some acid fertilizer for my soil needs when compost doesn't work, but if this is a result of the freeze you might just want to see what a little time does before trying anything. I'm hoping they'll releaf. Would appreciate hearing others suggestions too??

Here's a link for some suggestions for normal yellowing problems....

Here is a link that might be useful: Help with Gardenia - Gardenweb forum

Shannon, I do have some crispy leaves but not so much, I think it was protected where it is. It actually has some blooms to open also. I'll try some different things and see what works.
Thank you for the link.

Carla

Gardenias are very temperamental. Some of the places they are planted in they just hate. In some places they will leaf out but will refuse to flower. My solution was to do a soil sample; I sent it into the County Extension office and they told me what to add to the soil to make them happy. AHAH! Last report was that I had a lot of lime around their feet (from buried sheet rock pieces left from construction) unbeknownst to me - at least 12" deep. They hated that for sure! I dug down 18", even though I knew that they have shallow root systems, replaced the soil with new from the woods (mostly clay), mulched with 3" of shredded leaves, and added an inch of compost. That has got to be the most acid soil on the planet. In two weeks I saw a great show of new leaves replacing the crispy ones. They are thick and luxuriously dark green. I am hoping for flower buds to be produced in June.

Nancy the nancedar

Also, evergreen does not mean that the leaves will last forever. Interior leaves especially, will get old, and shaded and then turn yellow and fall off.

If the problem doesn't self-correct in a few weeks, come back with a more full description of the problem, where the leaves are, HOW they are turning yellow (at the veins, or whole thing, or veins staying greener, etc.) and more advice can be given.

My 3 Kleim's Hardy Gardenias suffered horribly after the cold snap. They were looking lush and full up until the freeze. I planted them in the fall and they seemed to be very happy in their East Northeastern exposure. After the cold snap, the leaves looked burned and kept falling to the ground, but this past weekend I notice that new growth is coming up from the bottoms of two of them so I trimmed back the majority of the ugly stuff. It's definitely frustrating because I bought 3 gallon size plants last fall and now they're the size of 1 gallon plants.

I really thought Kleim's Hardy would have fared better, but apparently not. Perhaps I should have protected them from the morning sun on those frosty mornings...

Out of my six August Beauties, only one is a beauty. Just this weekend, we moved 5 to more protected site and cut as needed. I think the sun and wind caused the damage to mine, even before the frost. Mine were in a NE exposure as well.

My Kleim's Hardy is doing great, but it's really protected. It's in an L with the house and garage, SE exposure that is shaded from noon on and gets no wind due to the house.

I have a Kleim's Hardy Gardenia that is doing great but it is very well established. It only had a few yellow leaves and is lush and green. I did not do anything to protect it but it does have some mulch bark around it.
Jean

My Kleim's Hardy is blooming today! It's right beside the front porch. Wonderful!

Cameron

I have 2 gardenias, 1 I've had for 4 years now. It seems every Spring it goes through this yellowing and dropping of leaves. The first time it did it I was so upset. Now when I see that happening I add some acid to it, coffee grounds and crushed egg shells. It bounces back in a few weeks. It seems like they go through this shedding process every Spring, alteast mine do.

Mine has been in the ground for prolly 10 years or better. So, I've seen the normal shedding it goes thru in spring. I see some new growth coming out from the bottom but most of it still looks dead since the late freeze we had.

Mine too. It's one of the old large leaf ones and not in a protected location. The only green growth left is at the base of the bush. I'll know next time to protect it. It bloomed a little for the first time last summer and now I have to start all over:(

Mine also. We have a Kleim's Hardy that looked like it was going to bloom this year, was green all winter and then bam -- the freeze killed it down to the ground.

Mine are a couple of years old and they, too, seemed to suffer from the last round of cold we had. They were already growing new leaves. But big chunks at the end of each branch now have brown leaves, crispy, falling off. And I notice that the bark on some of the stems has split lengthwise, too. I can see the green of the plant tissue inside. That's what really scared me for these poor guys. Anyone else have that? Is it likely from cold? Are the plants likely to recover? They do have new growth, but ruptured bark has got to be worrisome.

Karen