Doug Hetherington
Fewplants have a fragranceas intoxicating as jasmine.
Indoors or out, here’s everything you gotta know to get your jasmine plant to thrive.
Many vining jasmines root wherever a stem piece touches the ground, creating dense mats of foliage.
Credit:Doug Hetherington
Jasmine grows in full sun to partial shade, but the summer-flowering varieties do best in a sunny area.
Jasmine iscold-hardy in Zones 7-10and sometimes survives in Zone 6 with sufficient shelter.
To plant it, dig a hole slightly larger than the nursery pot.
Credit: Denny Schrock
If the soil has poor drainage, addcompostor other organic matter before planting.
Position the plant in the soil at the same level it was in the pot.
Consult your plant tag information to determine the best placement.
Credit: Denny Schrock
Jasmine Care Tips
Jasmine plants are easy to grow in a garden setting or as a houseplant.
These care tips will help them to reach their fullest flowering potential.
Light
The best flowering occurs infull sun, with much sparser blooms in shade.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Many of the vining types willhappily climb a trellisor lattice infull sunor part shade.
As a houseplant, jasmine does best with at least six hours of bright, indirect light.
Soil and Water
Jasmine needs well-drained, fertile garden soil that is consistently moist.
Credit: Cynthia Haynes
If the soil doesn’t drain well, incorporate organic matter before planting.
The soil should be slightly acidic, with apH between 5.5 and 7.0.
In the absence of rain, water jasmine once a week.
Credit: Dean Schoeppner
Indoor or potted jasmine requires more frequent watering, as much as two to three times a week.
The ideal temperature range is between 60 and 75F.
There is a special jasmine fertilizer for outdoor and indoor use, usually in liquid form.
Mix it with water following the label instructions and apply at the usual watering time.
Potting and Repotting Jasmine
Jasmine makes a delightful houseplant.
Use a pot with large drainage holes and well-draining potting soil combined with bark or peat for acidity.
Fill the larger pot with fresh potting mix before transferring the plant.
Water the transplant well to settle it in its new home.
Pests and Problems
The tantalizing fragrance of jasmine isn’t appreciated only by gardeners.
If caterpillars cause a problem, use Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) products to control them.
How to Propagate Jasmine
Jasmine can be propagated from seed,from cuttings, and by layering.
‘Here’s what it’s crucial that you know about each method.
To propagate jasmine from seed:
1.
Watch your jasmine plant for seed pods, typically toward the end of summer.
Once these bean-shaped pods begin to brown, break them open and collect the seeds.
Store in a warm, dry place until you’re ready to sow them.
Before sowing, soak the seeds for 24 hours before planting them in a moist seed-starting mix.
Cover the pots with clear plastic and place them in direct sunlight in a warm location.
Keep the soil evenly moist at all times.
To propagate jasmine from cuttings:1.
In the fall, take a 4- to 6-inch cutting.
Remove any spent blooms and the lower leaves, leaving at least three upper leaves on the cutting.
Dip the end of the cutting in rooting hormone and plant in damp potting soil.
Place a large, clear plastic bag over the pot and put it in bright indirect light.
The cutting should root in about four to six weeks.
To propagate jasmine by layering:1.
Layering is a mostly hands-off process that works well with jasmine in spring or early summer.
Push a section of the stem with leaves into the soil, leaving the stem tip above soil level.
Press down on the soil to firm it.3.
Jasmine has itspeak scent at night.
For tea, thousands of jasmine blossoms are layered between alternating layers of tea leaves at night .
After four hours, the tea will absorb the scent to flavor the tea.
In some cases, this process is repeated several times for a more intense flavor.
Types of Jasmine
The biggest difference between jasmine varieties is their growth habit.
The most well-known types are vines.
Shrubby jasmines are less aggressive than vines but require more maintenance.
Angel Wing Jasmine
Jasminum nitidumis a great plant for cascading over the edge of a container.
Angel wing jasmine has fragrant, pinwheel-shaped flowers that are white with bold purple undersides.
Primrose jasmine has unscented lemon yellow flowers in winter and spring and sporadically during other times of the year.
Zone 10-11
Jasminum sambacandJasminum grandiflorumare the most commonly used jasmines in the fragrance industry.
Winter Jasmine
Jasminum nudiflorumis the hardiest jasmine.
It’s a shrub with yellow flowers in late winter and early spring.
Unlike most jasmines, it is not fragrant.
Useful as a hedge, it grows 10 feet tall and wide.
It is usually trained on a trellis and found in florist shops.
Outdoors, it climbs 10 feet or more.
However, each flower lasts for only a few days.
During dry periods, the plant stops blooming unless it is watered frequently.
Some jasmine plants tolerate temperatures as low as 10 F, but many of them die in freezing temperatures.
