After four years of libraries (both college and public), internet searches, and the RHC, my research trail has all but dried up and I am desperately seeking ANY information (not to mention some closure...) with regard to a plant I have. I received a bare-root, leafless stick approx. 2ft. long and less than an inch thick wrapped in newspaper from one of my employees. She was going through a terrible divorce, and her soon to be ex-husband destroyed and threw out her favorite plant. This woman was was crying as she gave me this big bunch of newspaper with a seemingly dead stick in it, told me this was all she could find of her plant ( a 5ft. shrub/tree bigger than she) and asked me to do something,..anything. With tons of luck, and even more prayer, the plant came back; and there the mystery began.... Seems that my friend/employee (who is Greek by the way) received her plant as a rooted cutting 25 or more years ago from a friend's grandmother who brought it with her as one of her few posessions when she immigrated to the United States from Greece. I know...sounds like a movie but it's true. As you will see in these attatched pictures, the plant seems to be a shrub or small tree. The growth habit is such that wherever it is pruned it doesn't seem to branch drastically but produces flowers on virtually all new growth. The branches can grow quite fast and long before this happens and often will not branch themselves until a flower is produced. The flowers are white and have a waxy texture similar to a gardenia or jasmine and have an incredible sweet fragrance which smells like a combination of the two. One cut flower an inch or two big can perfume part of a room. A tinge of purple can often be seen among the very bottom petals similar to some jasmines. The leaves as I hope you can see bears a resemblance, I think, to gardenia or jasmine leaves. My friend can only refer to it by the name "Fouli", which seems to be a popular name through my searchings as well as an ingrediant in some orthodox religious incenses. Well friends, you now know everthing I know about this plant. ANY additional information or leads would be tremendously appriciated. With some more luck, prayers, and now your help, I may be able to present my friend with the healthy cutting I've established for her and a botanical name for it. Thank you so much, Gene R. Sartori
The plant looks like a Jasminum sambac 'Grand Duke of Tuscany' which has double flowers unlike the species. However I don't recall the flowers being waxy. What leads you think it isn't a jasmine? Whatever it is it looks really healthy; you must have a green thumb. I've not had any success growing them indoors. What's your secret?
Thank you SSSoooooooo much for the reply!!! You are of course correct and I can't thank you enough! I can't believe I missed that! Aside from spider mite control just give it plenty of sun, feed monthly with a balanced fertilizer during growing season, and trim spent flowers to keep it tidy! I really owe you a debt of gratitude...Thanks again. Gene =)
I have just sent the following letter to the horitcultural expert at our newpaper (The San Francisco Chronicle) asking the same question! Please let me know if anyone has been able to help you. My whole family is from the island of Cyprus and don't find this plant exotic at all. But it IS quite beautiful and the flowers smell great! Yours looks far more healthy than mine, but as I mention in my letter, I'm the farthest thing from a gardener. However, once we landscape, we will be having a professional keep our plants from dying, so I really want to find the right spot for this beauty. Dear Dr. Hort. I have cuttings of a plant from an original that my great aunt brought back with her (probably illegally) from her home island of Cyprus many years ago. Despite the fact that I'm normally deadly with plants, I haven't managed to kill this one in almost 10 years, though I would hardly say that it flourishes. It has been planted in an area that gets morning sun, but only gets watered when I remember. It is a woody shrub/vine with a waxy green round/oval leaves, and flowers that are white, full of tiny petals and smell of a cross between a gardenia and a jasmine. The blooms almost look like miniature mums. The Greeks call this plant a "fouli." We are about to landscape for the first time since we moved to Napa, and I'm wondering if you can identify this plant and tell me how much water it needs and where I might transplant it to increase its chances of survival. (If a photo would help, I'd be happy to send one ... I just didn't know if the Chronicle email system would accept an attachment.)
Fabulous! Thank you Junglekeeper! Stupidly, when I googled the word "fouli," I only saw the original posting but not your answer! My plant has been outside for all the years I've had it, in a bed where every gardenia plant I've planted has died. Guess they need more water! Since I've only pruned once, it explains the odd shape and whispy look to mine. I will definately prune as soon as it's safe. I assume while it's blooming is not the right time? My great-aunt had hers in a pot along the walk to her front door. It grew to an enormous height and was as lush as the plant pictured. That's my goal!!! Wish you all the best with yours, Junglekeeper and Gene, it's well worth the trouble (as you know) and pretty hardy if I haven't killed mine yet!
Thanks to your post we were able to identify the Fouli we bought here in Crete, Greece. The owner of the garden centre did not know what it was called in English! All the plants we have seen here have not looked too good, but since my wife re-potted ours in ericaceous compost it has gone from strength to strength, and is now the best we have ever seen!
Does this particular cultivar, referred to as Fouli, have special significance in Greek culture? Earlier this year I learned the 'Maid of Orleans' cultivar is known as Sambaguita in the Philippines and is the national flower there.
What is it about this plant? It seems that all who have a specimen obtained it from some mysterious source! I am the same - my Turkish neighbours moved recently and gave me their rather sad potted specimen to nurse back to health. They called it a Turkish gardenia, saying that a relative smuggled in a cutting years ago. I've been hunting around trying to accurately identify it in the hope of providing the TLC it so desperately needed - so I was very happy to stumble across your query and pictures. Curiously, I also have a jasminum sambac Grand Dyke of Tuscany and it's a much more petite plant - slenderer branches, smaller habit - which flowers profusely and responds well to being trimmed back. This 'Turkish gardenia' is a much more robust - albeit leggy - specimen. I pruned it back and repotted it, striking (I hope!) lots of cuttings as I did so. Now it has produced masses of buds and the first flowers are opening - exciting and beyond (at least I haven't killed the thing yet!). Prayers are said daily over the cuttings, but it's too early to tell if they've taken yet. Glorious perfume to the flowers - the first whiff told me it must be another jasmine as the scent is very close (but not identical) to my Grand Duke plant. So, I'm not sure if I've solved the riddle yet, but will post some pictures of my specimen and maybe someone can clear the mystery up. Thanks for the lead! Cheers, Angus
HI check out a Google for Gardenia Jasminoides belmont or hadley or fortuniana Sorry for any miss Spelking: regards Doug
