PlantFiles: Poet's Jasmine
Jasminum officinale

I recently purchased literally two leaves of Jasminum Officinale with healthy roots. I potted them in a 4inch pot and some branches have already started to dry out. The climate here in Las Vegas is hot and dry. I plan on babying them for a while in hope that they will do well in my climate. I do plan to plant them outside in the yard eventually. Has anyone in this area had good luck with this plant?

This plant's ability to winter over here in zone 7a without protection since the 90s has been a wonderful surprise.

To qualify "without protection", let me say that I stuck its roots (which a neighbor literally yanked out of the ground on his side of the hedge and handed them to me with their bare roots exposed to air) on either side of a gate in a yew hedge. It could be that the yew protects the jasmine from winter extremes. Our neighbor grew his through a weigela shrub. Our jasmine mingles with Rosa 'Alberic Barbier' and Clematis 'Max Ernst' above the yew (with a groundcover of cream/gray-green variegated periwinkle under the yew), and only becomes apparent when your nose catches an enchanting whif in June when you've forgotten it's there.

This plant is said to be hardy as far north as Philadelphia.

I live about 60 miles NW of San Antonio. I have had this plant outside my kitchen window for3 yrs now. I do cover it in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb with plastic. It is 6 ft high on a trellis and I have to keep cutting it back. So far so good.

Highly recommend this plant to anyone. Some was already well established on the front fence when I moved into my home. In late spring & summer, with my windows open & the gentlest breeze, the fragrance of the blooms fill my home. This experience has become one of the fondest memories for me & my family from living here.
This has made me a definite fan of Jasmine & now collect all the different varieties. Each one in a different place in my yard - on lattice outside a bedroom window, privacy fence, arbor, lattice on my back porch, lattice on my downstairs deck etc. Most varieties have little white flowers that look like pin wheels - a favorite childhood toy.
There are some bush varieties which make excellent potted plants which I keep in very large planters on my upstairs deck.
So far it has tolerated most of the freezes here in Jacksonville - most without any apparent damage. We've only had one freeze I can remember where it died back miserably & I just knew it was all gone. But with the warmth of the spring, I noticed green sprigs unfolding from the ground as I was removing the dead branches. This particular time I had spread quilts & blankets over it to try to protect it from the freeze. Since then I never cover it. I've noticed it seems to fare the weather much better that way for some unknown reason.

Very easy to grow container plant for cold-winter climates. It is easy to root cuttings in the fall, and set them out in the spring for blooming plants by mid-summer.

Star shaped flowers, dark green foliage, very fragrant.