With sufficient light and water, gardenias can gradually be trained into bonsai.

Many people keep gardenias for basically just one season; once the flowers fade they ignore the plant completely, and then successfully kill it.

In fact, growing gardenias is not that difficult - just keep up sufficient light and water.

Before the flowering season, use mainly phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to encourage more flower bud differentiation; after flowering, apply more nitrogen fertilizer to promote lush branches and leaves.

And many dedicated growers have gradually trained them into bonsai, keeping one for as long as 10 years.