What the devil happened to my gardenia? I brought it inside when it got chilly and dutifully followed the instructions of that lady at the garden shop: I placed it over a tray of gravel filled with water in my sunniest window. I misted it, watered it, fed it, and then left town for a week. When I got home, it was deader than 4 o’clock. And I had hoped to have its jasmine scent help me through the winter—so much for that perverse fantasy. I could spend another 30 bucks and love a new gardenia to death. Or go back to force another round of paperwhite narcissuses (which, some folks say, smell like cat piss, but I like them). Or I could take the master class at Behnke’s this weekend on raising fragrant indoor plants. It’s cheaper than a trip to the tropics, and the people at Behnke’s really know their stuff. So pay attention when the lecture begins at 10 a.m. at Behnke Nurseries Co., 11300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville. Free. (301) 937-1100. (Bradford McKee)