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My appreciation for Gardenias grew when I planted one in the front yard. I live in Phoenix, Arizona, so the ability of a Gardenia plant to survive in the desert years was pretty miraculous. It grew in the shade and the flowers bloomed into massive explosions of aromatic blossoms.
If you are attracted to the Gardenia flower, there may be aspects of yourself that you avoid, because perhaps they are messy, imperfect or painful. Though all of us have a shadow side, you might be running away from it or preferring not to look at it.
Parts of ourselves that we either run away from or avoid for some reason can emerge into our consciousness with Gardenia. We can learn to love these aspects of ourselves, which in some cases transforms them immediately into a powerful strength, rather than a weakness.
Oftentimes what we judge as a "weakness" is simply our own aversion to vulnerability; once we are able to fully invite all parts of ourselves to the table, then we can have a very dynamic dinner conversation.
Just as the flowers are luminous in the moonlight, Gardenias help us look at our shadow sides, or sides of ourselves that we don’t necessarily want to look at.
Something I often reminded my clients of was that you can't attain a rich soil for growing things without compost. If you're ever seen compost piles, you know they're stinky, with rotting vegetables, eggshells and slime. However, all these things enrich the soil.
In order to develop the beauty of authenticity, our own rich soil, it becomes necessary for us to acknowledge and accept ALL parts of ourselves, even the ones we feel are stinky or slimy. Gardenia helps us to see all parts of ourselves as beautiful, worthy and loveable.
The Gardenia flower is also part of our Wild Abundance collection.
As a subtropical plant belonging to the coffee family, Gardenias (Gardenia jasminoides) are not the easiest flowers to grow, making their blooms very costly if you purchase them (a small box or bouquet of organic Gardenias is almost $200!). At over $20 per bloom, growing Gardenia plants in your garden is the most cost-effective way to go.
There are over 100 different Gardenia species, with the most popular cultivated Gardenia native to China, known as Cape Jasmine (Gardenia jasminoides). A large white flower about the size of a garden rose, it is most commonly found growing in the wild in Vietnam, China, Taiwan, India, Japan, Burma. The fruit of this Gardenia species is used for natural yellow dyes and also in traditional Chinese Medicine to cool the body down during a fever.
Another type of Gardenia that many people love is the one that looks more like a small pinwheel, known as the Tahitian Gardenia (Gardenia Taitensis). Native to Polynesia, these flowers are made into leis in Hawaii. In Tahiti, a common perfume oil called Monoi Tiare Tahiti is made by infusing the fresh flowers in coconut oil using the enfleurage method (soaking fresh flowers in oil and replacing them out with fresh until the oil extracts enough of the flowers’ natural essential oils).
If you’ve ever buried your face in a huge Gardenia flower, you know that they are extremely fragrant with a heady, floral aroma similar to the intensity of Jasmine. If you love the heady aroma of this precious flower, a true Gardenia essential oil is extremely rare. In over 15 years of working with essential oils, I have only ever seen ONE supplier carry a rare & limited edition of Gardenia essential oil, which cost $3,000 for an ounce! So if you see Gardenia fragrances, beware: 99% of the time it’s made from artificial fragrances, which are toxic (more on that here).
Magnifies: Seeing your “shadow” side in a positive light; transforming your perceived weaknesses into strengths, embracing all aspects of your self as beautiful
Dissolves: Fear of your “shadow” side; avoidance of your perceived weaknesses; judging as negative particular aspects of your personality
Wild Abundance offers a powerful way to experience interconnectedness with everything around us. When we sense the divine in every moment, we instantaneously begin to tune into the infinite possibilities that are available to us and perceive the magic of everyday life.
Love + flower petals,
