The sweetly-scented jasmine flower can filla room or a garden with its heady scent. Though jasmine is a vine usually grown outdoors, some varieties can also begrown as houseplants. There is some confusion regarding jasmine and which variety is fragrant. Read more about growingjasmine.
Jasmine can be pruned as a shrub near the house or a walk so that its intense fragrance can be enjoyed by passersby as well as the hummingbirds and butterflies that are drawn to the flowers. The genus Jasminum contains more than 200 vines andshrubs.
Types ofJasmine
Common jasmine or Poet’s jasmine (Jasminum officinale), also called True Jasmine, is a deciduous vine with clusters of starry, pure-white flowers that bloom all summer.It’s a twining climber with rich green leaves that have five to nine leaflets, each up to 2½ inches long. The very fragrant flowers are up to 1 inch indiameter.
Hardytozone7, the vine grows vigorously ( 1 to 2 feet per year, up to 20 feet) and looks stunning climbing alarge pergola, fence, or very large trellis. In the landscape, jasmine can also be pruned as a shrub near the house or near a walk so its intense fragrance can be enjoyed and so you can watch hummingbirds and butterflies come to the flowers. Common Jasmine is native toAsia.
Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is an “old-timey” shrub often found around Victorian homes. The beautiful yellow flowers are unscented, 1-inch wide, and they appear in winter or early spring before the leaves unfold. Winter jasmine is a good bank cover that will spread by rooting where the stems touch the soil. It is also very attractive when planted above retaining walls, with the branches cascading over the side. Hummingbirds love this vigorousvine!
Most other Jasminum species are semi-tropical vines, which are best planted in the spring after the danger of frost haspassed.
Not a TrueJasmine
Star jasmine or Confederate jasmine look similar but are not true jasmines. It is actually native to China and is known scientifically asTrachelospermum jasminoides. Hardy in USDA plant hardiness zones 7B through 10, the phlox-like flowers bloom on twining stems in spring and summer and are highlyscented.
