Star / Confederate Jasmine Plants

Star / Confederate Jasmine Plants, Trachelospermum jasminoides

Jasmine is a lovely climbing plant for a sheltered spot or a south-facing wall, ideally close to a sitting area or entrance where the wonderful scent can be best appreciated. It produces masses of deliciously scented white flowers, fading to cream, from June to early September.

The winter foliage takes on excellent bronze tinges and the new foliage in spring is light green, making the plant attractive all year round. It is slow growing to start but will gather momentum as it matures.

Browse our variety of jasmine plants or our full range of climbers.

Features:

• Glossy evergreen leaves
• Medium growth to 8m
• Lovely white summer flowers
• Delicious heavy scent
• Bronze/red winter foliage
• Full sun or partial shade
• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Growing Star Jasmine

It does need some shelter and will do best away from drying winds and cold spots, preferably against a warm wall. It needs a well-drained moisture retentive soil but is not fussy about pH. It will require support, looking good grown as a pillar or over an arch.

It can also be grown as ground cover, where it will need trimming a couple of times a year to keep it low and dense.

All the books recommended a sunny, South-facing position, which is ideal but not essential in our experience. It will grow well against a North-facing wall in the Southern half of Great Britain, with an open sky in front of it.
It is frost hardy, but will benefit from some protection in severe winters, and always appreciates a mulch in spring and autumn.

Please note: The white sap that you will see when pruning causes skin irritation to most people, so gloves are recommended.

In Your Garden Design

Use it near somewhere you sit in the afternoon and the evening, or under a bedroom window on a wall that has been in the sun all day and the heady scent will waft you away to warmer climes. The dense foliage is excellent for hiding unsightly surfaces. Clematis are ideal companion plants for jasmine: try with a contrasting colour such as Cezanne or stick to a white theme and use a lovely Alba. If you are putting the jasmine on a north-facing wall check with clematis suit the location too. A good one is montana grandiflora.

Did You Know?

Trachelospermum jasminoides was introduced by the Scottish botanist Robert Fortune (1812-1880) from Southern China, where he travelled extensively.

It can be found in the wild all over Asia, and is becoming an invasive species in several countries warmer than ours. In Uzbekistan, it is known as Trader's Compass: the leaves point traders of good character in the right direction. It is used by the high-end perfume industry, in China and Vietnam it is a staple in the manufacture of incense.

Sometimes described as Chinese Star Jasmine, it is not to be confused with Jasminum polyantha, which is often also sold as Chinese Jasmine; this plant is no relation of the Jasmine family, but the wonderful scent is about the same.

How to grow Trachelospermum jasminoides:

Needs a constantly moist root run during the growing season and so it is essential to incorporate a humus rich compost around the roots when planting.

Make a good size hole, larger than the root ball, add some bonemeal and Root Grow around the roots and back fill with the compost. Water in well and mulch. It will need support. If growing against a wall use trellis or vine eyes and wires and tie in the major stems.

Look out for:

Trachelospermum jasminoides is frost hardy but may need protection in severe winters. It does not do well in exposed sites with drying winds or with impoverished soils and so will benefit from a monthly feed during the growing season and should be kept well watered throughout the summer.

It may occasionally suffer with scale insects which can be removed with the use of horticultural oils or a dilute solution of washing up liquid.