Below is list of gardenia cultivars. I have some alternate plants for you to consider (not alternate to gardenias but to your other ideas): Florida anise (Illicium floridanum) which flowers red and coastal leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris).

Here's a run down on the gardenia cultivars:

* ÂAugust Beauty grows 4 to 6 feet high and blooms heavily from midspring to fall.
* ÂChuck Hayes is an extra hardy type to 4 feet high with double flowers in summer.
* ÂFirst Love is larger than ÂAugust Beauty with large flowers in spring.
* ÂGolden Magic reaches 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide, and has golden yellow flowers.
* ÂKleimÂs Hardy is hardy to 10 ° F and grows to 3 feet tall with single flowers in summer.
* ÂMystery is the best-known selection. It has 4-to 5-inch double white flowers and can reach 6 to 8 feet.
* ÂRadicans grows to only 12 inches tall and spreads 2 to 3 feet, with small, dark green leaves and inch-wide double flowers in summer. It is not very cold hardy.
* ÂDaisy is a more cold hardy variety

I'm not an expert by any means, but I have gardenias on the northeast side of my house and they do well. A neighbor hs one on the northern side of her house and it is flourishing. I planted rdicans and am hoping the spot is so sheltered that the temperature will never drop enough to do them in.

I think gardenias need acidity, similar to blueberries and azaleas. I was surprised to read your friend's plant is growing in alkaline soil; maybe check up on this. I think they're tricky to grow.

My August Beauty (still small; I thought it had died but it's come back to life) is next to my house for shelter (pine needles for mulch), in a semi-shaded spot.

Have fun in your new house planning and planting.

Rose

Gardenia 'Radicans' is tougher than you might be led to believe. I have several that survived(underground) the Polar onslaught of 12 deg. below zero on January 21 & 22, 1985 and many other temeratures near and below zero since then. Of course, today's prognosticators are convinced that we will never have temperatures that low again, because of the human induced global warming effect! It is true that we are experiencing a climatic cycle, with warmer than average winter temperatures, during the most recent 5 years, that are more suggestive of Zone 8/9, than Zone 7. But we oldtimers remember the modern Ice Age of the '50's,'60's & '70's also, with all of those record low temperatures!
Happy gardening!

Radicans is good, but it's really a ground cover, it's that low. Both August Beauty and Mystery do well here, but there are some suggestions: 1. Plant them shallow, with good drainage, they are real drainage snobs and don't do well with wet feet 2. Plant them shallow, oops I already said that 3. Be prepared to get whiteflies, they just come with the territory. But if that bothers you (more than they bother the gardenias) just blast them with an insecticide (orthene comes to mind). 4. they wil go through their leaf drop and yellow leaf routine, but just keep the ph ok and use some Milorganite or Ironite, and they'll be fine.
Bill