Trachelospermum jasminoides
Star jasmine
Common names: Chinese star jasmine, Confederate jasmine
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −10 °C
- Pruning
- Aug–Sep
- Flowering
- Jun–Aug
- Spacing
- 100 cm, rows 100 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Scott Zona from USA · CC BY 2.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Star jasmine, botanically Trachelospermum jasminoides, is an evergreen climber from East Asia whose stems twine around wires and rods. Its glossy, dark green leaves remain on the stems all year and often turn bronze-red in cold winters. From June to August, white, star-shaped flowers open that give off a strong jasmine-like fragrance, although the plant is not related to true jasmine. In a container it usually grows 2 to 3 m tall, and when planted out in mild locations it can reach 4 m or more. In this region it is considered conditionally hardy: outdoors it only copes in very mild locations, so it is usually grown as a container plant and kept bright and frost-free in winter. It can be placed on a terrace, house wall, pergola or trellis, where its scent reaches the seating area.
Care instructions
Plant star jasmine in a sunny, wind-sheltered spot, ideally in front of a warm south or west wall. It also grows in partial shade but flowers less well there. It needs a climbing aid: stretch wires or attach a trellis with some distance from the wall so the stems can wind around it. Guide the first shoots by hand onto the support, after which it climbs on its own. Water evenly so the soil stays moist but never waterlogged. In summer, a container plant may need watering almost daily, while in winter water sparingly. Waterlogging causes roots to rot, and drought causes the leaves to droop. If you keep it in a container, move it outdoors only after the Ice Saints in mid-May. Common mistakes are a winter spot that is too dark, which causes leaf loss, and waterlogging in the pot.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringJun–Aug
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy
Star jasmine grows in humus-rich, well-drained soil that stays evenly fresh. Slightly acidic to neutral soil suits it best. What matters is that excess water can drain away, because in winter the roots quickly rot in wet conditions. In a container, use good-quality container plant compost and put a layer of pot shards or expanded clay over the drainage hole. Loosen heavy, clayey garden soil with sand and compost.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr–Aug
In a container, add a liquid fertiliser for flowering plants to the water every two weeks from April to August. From September, stop feeding so the shoots can ripen before winter. Planted out against a house wall, a layer of mature compost around the plant in spring is enough; if needed, add diluted nettle feed in summer.
Pruning
Star jasmine needs little pruning. Straight after flowering, in August or September, shorten shoots that are too long or in the way; this keeps it dense and compact. In spring, remove only frost-damaged or dried-out shoot tips back to healthy, green wood. Before bringing it indoors in autumn, you may shorten the shoots to fit its winter quarters. It is better to cut a little more often than to cut hard once.
Overwintering
In very mild locations, for example in a wine-growing climate against a sunny, wind-sheltered south wall, star jasmine can survive winter outdoors if you cover the root zone thickly with leaves or bark mulch and protect the shoots from winter sun and wind with horticultural fleece. In prolonged frost below minus 10 °C the plant is at risk. In harsher locations it is better kept in a container: before the first harder frosts, bring it into a bright, frost-free room at 5 to 10 °C and water only enough that the root ball does not dry out. After the Ice Saints in mid-May it may go back outside.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
The surest way to propagate star jasmine is from cuttings. In July or August, cut off semi-ripe shoot tips about 10 cm long, remove the lower leaves and insert them in sandy seed compost. Under a propagator lid in a bright, warm spot out of strong sun, they form roots in a few weeks; this takes patience. Layering is easier but slower: in spring, pull a long, flexible shoot down to the ground, lay one section of it in the soil and weigh it down with a stone. After about a year it has roots of its own and can be separated.
For your garden
Grow Star jasmine yourself
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