PlantFiles: Gardenia, Cape Jasmine, Gandharaj
Gardenia jasminoides 'Chuck Hayes'

Chuck Hayes has been growing in my Southern Virginia yard in an eastern exposure for about six years, and it is about three and a half feet by three and a half feet. It's healthy, the blossoms are pretty and the smell is entrancing. We've had freezing winters and sultry summers, and it has never gotten scrappy looking.

...that was interesting info in the first post. We are thrilled to have found this gardenia!! We just bought it this season. It is just blooming now for the first time and so far so good. We have two, both planted near the house foundation. The gardenia in the front of our house is a southern exposure, sun all day; the one in the back is on the east side of our house and gets afternoon sun. We plan on mulching well and cross our fingers that they make it through the winter. As for the fragrance, it is really great if you put your nose right up to the blossom. I'm hoping when the plant is more established and with more blooms that the fragrance would carry at least to our front porch :)

Gardenia jasminoides var. "Chuck Hayes" was developed in Virginia Beach in the late 1970's by two researchers who began hybridizing from several stock plants that survived a zero degree freeze. From cold hardy single blooming stock they created a double blooming gardenia that shows cold tolerance similar to, if not superior to "Kleim's Hardy." This cultivar also supposedly demonstrates superior heat tolerance. The zone 6b listing is "with protection", meaning placement in a sheltered location with mulching.

"Chuck Hayes" is also known for its habit of blooming twice per season, producing more blooms than most other gardenia cultivars. Its blooms are listed as "extremely fragrant."