You are doing a pretty good job as these are difficult plants to keep happy from year to year.
We can see an unhealthy population of spider mites on the plant- they literally suck the life out of the leaves and the spotty yellowing (called 'stippling') is caused by them. 
The first thing we suggest is to put your plant in your shower and directly spray all the leaf (underside especially) and branch surfaces to remove as many as you can. You can use your fingers too to wipe the leaves. This will also tend to knock off the worst affected yellowing leaves which is fine as well.
If they begin to build again you can also try an insecticidal soap spray that is labeled for houseplants. (Here is our page on spider mites for reference: https://extension.umd.edu/resource/spider-mites-indoor-plants)
Gardenia is a tropical plant that loves humidity, which is difficult to get in our winter heated homes. You might try placing the pot on a saucer of wet pebbles. The bright sunlight (even full sun this time of year) is appreciated, and fertilization in the summer should be done with one made for 'acid-loving' plants.

For 20+ years I had a gardenia that left outdoors until the the nights were in the 50's for a bit before I brought it in (which can encourage budding.)  I put it back out in the late spring. I found that it sometimes looked ragged by the end of winter but grew beautifully in the summer, so hang on.  During the growing season outdoors, they appreciate the improved environment and beneficial insects tend to keep insect pests controlled, especially if you don't use heavy pesticides in your environment.

We would suggest that you re-pot it in spring if the roots are coming out of the bottom of the pot or out of the soil. They like to be a little cramped. Use fresh non-alkaline soil mix (read the label)or a mixture of equal parts Leaf-Gro and peat. Our reference here says the root ball should be disturbed as little as possible.  If you don't see roots coming out of the pot, you could use a pencil or dowel to poke holes around the base of the plant and top dress with Leaf-Gro.  Pruning it back (at least the branches that don't have buds) is best done in early spring. I tended to leave buds and prune those shoots back after the flower faded. You can cut back half or even 2/3 of mature plants.


Christine

That's awesome! 
Perhaps the thing I love most about gardening is that there is always something new to learn or appreciate.
Here is our page on Peppers that you might find helpful: 
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/peppers

We have pages on other veggies as well, which can be found by clicking on the small red print "vegetable crops" to the left of the page.


Christine

here is the 1st bloom from a cutting taken on Oct 2021.  growth has really started to pick up.

Lovely bloom! Thank you for sharing.

Hello Ray,

The symptoms in the photos appear to be stress, possibly due to root moisture levels having caused root damage or stress in recent weeks/months. (It can take a surprising amount of time to manifest if it's not drastic.) This location appears to be very sunny, which can stress dogwoods since they are best adapted to semi-wooded habitats, though they will tolerate full sun if monitored carefully for water during hot dry spells.

When planting trees, it's recommended to only dig as deep as the root ball (from root flare to the base of the root ball, which can sometimes actually be a few inches shallower than the plant was growing in its pot or burlap). Years ago, horticulture used to suggest that the planting hole should be twice as deep in order to loosen that soil up for rooting, but we now understand that trees and shrubs need a solid, undisturbed base under their root balls (so they don't sink deeper as that disturbed soil settles), and the vast majority of roots grow more horizontally out and away from the trunk instead of a portion of them heading down. The recommendation to dig the planting hole at least twice as wide as the root ball size upon purchase is unchanged; you can even dig it wider if desired. Some nurseries and plant care tags have updated this planting depth guidance but others have not caught up.

Similarly, soil amendment advice has shifted from using lots of organic matter (like compost and good-quality topsoil) when planting to using only just enough to loosen compacted clay or to enrich very sandy soils so they hold a bit more moisture. The risk in using two different soil types next to each other is that water will tend to percolate faster through one and saturate the other for longer, which can stress or damage roots and interfere with how easily they establish after planting. It's always best to thoroughly mix any amendments into the entire volume of soil dug for the planting hole, and to only use a little bit to give a clay-based soil a slightly crumblier texture since it's so easily compacted. Some horticulturists even advocate that it's better for the plant to have no amendments at all, mainly if/when the gardener can remove the existing soil from around the roots upon planting. (This "root washing" serves two purposes -- it removes that very different soil type inside the root ball so you don't end up with similar percolation problems after planting, and it allows you to see the root structure in case any kinked or badly-shaped roots need trimming to remove defects prior to planting, since they won't correct their shape afterwards.)

Since it might be lots of work to replant the tree at this point (though you could, if you wanted to), at least try to make sure it's depth is not too excessive. With fingers or a spray of water, gently remove any surface soil from around the base of the trunk if the root flare is not already at the level of the soil surface. If the flare is buried several inches, that could be a problem in the future, but if it's close to the surface, that may not pose as much of a hazard to long-term health. Make sure any mulch around its base is not touching the trunk itself.

Regardless of whether you alter its planting depth now, continue to monitor the tree for water needs through autumn until we start to freeze at night. Feel the soil around six inches deep (not including any mulch layer) and water thoroughly only when it's becoming relatively dry to the touch at that depth. Keeping the soil too wet risks drowning roots, which the tree might not recover from since this typically leads to opportunistic root rot infections that weaken remaining roots further. Dogwoods are very sensitive to soil in their root zone that stays too wet for too long.

We do not see any signs of pests or disease on the foliage, which is a good sign. Those are indeed buds for next year's flowers, and they will remain dormant on the twigs all winter. You don't need to apply anything (no pesticides, no fertilizer). Stress might cause it to drop leaves a bit prematurely (though leaf shed will naturally begin soon anyway).

Miri