Gardenias Ready for Round Two of Blooms

This is one tough little gardenia bush. I have two bushes which flank both sides of my entry doorway. It is a heavenly experience when they are in bloom to enter and exit the front door. The alcove of the entry creates an envelope of frangrance.

Anyway, these bushes have been subjected to a host of problems. First the landscape company changed the grade by the door and their crowns are below grade. Next, the landscape company topped of the beds with three to four inches of soil topper. Then the landscape company flooded the beds with massive irrigation. About this time, the leaves were turning yellow and brown, blossoms were dropping unbloomed and leaves were dropping to the ground. Not realizing all of these things were happening, I purchased a little soil amendment with low pH (which gardenias prefer). I went to apply the amendment, and found out all of the above. I cut back the watering, removed all of the topper, applied cottonseed meal (lowers pH). Slowly the plant has responded. Now, it is ready for the second bloom of the summer. You can see some flowers are already present and buds for scores more.