How to take care of Gardenia plants?

I planted them in our flowerbed last spring and now they are all dried out. Can I just start watering them or do I need to pull them out and plant new ones. I live in FL.
How to take care of Gardenia plants?
I love Gardenia bushes. I love them even more when they produce flowers. Some gardenias will never produce flowers, and then you need to give them special care.

First I would try watering them every day, and then get some Miracle gro for acid loving plants. I used some last year on my gardenia bush right after I planted it and it had 3 flowers on it. It shouldn't be dried out. My gardenia bush survived the winter and I live in South Carolina. It's like a evergreen. If you don't see any green growth on it in several weeks to a month, I would try replacing them.
Reply:severe cold won't damage the plants. Plants always seem to have more blooms at the time you receive them than any other time in their life due to less than favorable growing conditions in most homes.



SOME COMMON PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

-- Salt "burn" on the leaves. Salts found in alkaline soils tend to concentrate in the edges and tips of the older leaves, killing the cells and turning the edges brown. Keep the soil acidic with applications of aluminum sulfate. Purchase a soil testing kit, one for testing the pH of the soil. One such kit is the Sudbury Garden Soil Tester. It costs about $4.00 and will give about ten tests. The instructions are easy to follow. To lower the pH of the soil the gardenias are growing in, add 1/4-1/2 cup of aluminum sulfate to the soil at the base and under the gardenia and water in well. This will lower the pH about 1 point. Wait two weeks. Test the soil. If the pH needs to be lowered even more, reapply aluminum sulfate. Test the soil once a month in the summertime, adding the aluminum sulfate as needed to keep the pH to 6.0.



-- Iron deficiencies. The leaves are pale in color with the veins still green. This is a symptom of iron, magnesium or zinc deficiencies in the soil. This condition is also known as chlorosis or iron chlorosis. Treat the soil to lower pH with aluminum sulfate. Use 1/4 to 1/2 cup of aluminum sulfate spread around under the gardenia and water it in. Spraying the leaves with Miracle-Gro or Miracid, in addition to acidifying the soil with aluminum sulfate, will give a quick, but temporary, fix for iron chlorosis.



-- Sooty mold. The leaves are covered with a blackish, sticky stuff that can be wiped off Sooty mold is a fungus that grows on the exudate of sap-sucking insects such as aphids, whiteflies, scale insects and mealybugs. The mold can inhibit the food-production in the leaves. It usually will wash off in the winter rains. Prevent sooty mold by controlling the insects causing the problem. These insects may be on the gardenia or on plants growing above them.



-- Insects attacking gardenias. Commonly found are aphids, scales, whiteflies, spider mites and mealybugs. Control them with Orthenex or malathion. Organic gardeners use insecticidal soaps, horticultural oil, pyrethrins, ryania, or sabadilla.



-- Buds dropping and leaves yellowing. These are attributed to abrupt climate changes, excess watering, or both. It usually occurs in the winter. Some leaf fall is normal. Gardenias drop some older leaves just before blooms appear in the spring. Maintain optimum moisture levels in the soil, moist, but not saturated. Maintain nutrient levels by frequent feedings.



SUMMARY

Properly grown and maintained, gardenias are one of the joys in the garden. The shiny green leaves and the gorgeous, white, intensely fragrant flowers are a sight to behold. Placing gardenias in the right spot in the landscape, taking care that the crown is above the native soil and using generous amounts of peat moss when planting, will give the gardenias a good head start. Prevent leaves from turning brown at the edges by keeping the soil acidic and keep those dark green leaves that way by applying iron. Insects are not a major problem and they are easily controlled with sprays