A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Gardenia problem

Hello all,
I have a gardenia bush from last year. Its in a container. Last yr when I brought it from the store, it had lots of buds but all of them dropped :((. I read that its a hard plant to grow and that dropping of buds is a common problem.
The plant however never showed lack of lush green leaves. This year again I have ton of buds, and I was so happy to see them until I saw ants in the plant. The plant is now infested with huge black ants which are covering the entire plant and specially the buds. I don't want to loose the buds this time as well.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!! I am not sure what to do to get rid of those ants!

-Deepanwita

Take out of pot and can use that over& out ant granuals.I have to do a few containers a year.Right now I'm treating a bubblegum machine.fire ants found higher ground.