PlantFiles: Night Blooming Jasmine, Night Scented Jessamine, Queen of the Night
Cestrum nocturnum

Halo, it's Very glad to be a part of here, I'm a woman, love an art, love anythings, love cute animals or others, painting, ceramic maker, landscaper, gardener and farmer too, who planted this Jasmine Blooming Night, all over again...I loved the smell very well, I really really love it...I always waiting when my lovely plant become having full flower... I have 4 big three, and many little others....It's proudly if I having friends or new guest like usually come to my garden house than asking what perfumed that I used ??...from the car park until the bath room smell lovely......but remember, I always Thank to God who created this lovely plant for our lovely memories....and thank you for 'Dave' gardens...you are lovely too....

I grow this lovely plant here in Montana as a houseplant but I put it outside in the spring/summer/fall then bring it in before the cold weather hits. This plant just goes nuts either inside and especially when it gets to go outside for the summer. It blooms for me prolifically a few times every year. The fragrance is heavenly and my neighbors here in Montana keep asking me what that smell is coming from my yard. It can actually be smelled from a block away when in full bloom. People here just don't know what this plant is. Once I tell them though, they want one. I bought mine from Worldplants.com and it arrived as a huge rootbound plant in about a 4" pot. Those guys really send great stock, have to say. Everything I have ever ordered from them is huge and in perfect shape when it arrives. I agree with a previous posting. This plant should be spelled as Night Blooming Jessamine not Jasmine. Jessamine is derived from the word Jasmine, but Jessamine is the original early American spelling and personally I think it's endearing and part of our history. The word Jasmine itself is derived from the Arabic word Yasmin, but again, that refers to the real Jasmine plant, like Jasminum sambac and Jasminum polyanthum etc. At any rate, whatever you choose to call Cestrum nocturnum, it is a beautiful and intensely fragrant plant. A real treasure.

Just love this plant, the fragrance is beyond heavenly. I bought mine 3 years ago at a local nursery and every year it seems to bloom more and more. It blooms 3 to 4 times during the year. I have noticed it does love lots of water, and our hot Texas summer doesn't seem to bother it as long as it watered daily. I have mine in a 14 inch plastic pot. Also it has survived so far our San Antonio winters, it does lose it leaves but has always bounces back quite well once it starts to warm up, which around here is March.

Queen of the Night ('raat ki rani') is an amazingly fragrant plant that one can smell from 200-300 yards away. As a number of members have pointed out, it has a rather strong fragrance when planted by itself. There is an interesting remedy to this. When planted along with Cestrum diurnum (King of the Day--'din ka raja'), they not only help each other to grow better, but the fragrance of the night blooming jasmine seems to be moderated as has been anecdotally reported in India.

Additional anecdotal experience has it that if c. diurnum is not planted nearby, the Queen of the Night attracts snakes. I have experience of both of these conditions at my country home--we used to get snakes near these plants frequently. After planting c. diurnum near the night scented jasmine over two years ago I have had no snakes appearing anywhere near these plants (or anywhere else on the property) since then. There has been no environmental change to account for this and I can only conclude that this widely reported anecdotal experience is true, as well as the observation that the fragrance of the jasmine is moderated and is much more pleasing (and intoxicating!) after planting c. diurnum near it (5-10 feet distance).

I would invite those who have had not such a great experience with this plant, to add 1 or 2 c. diurnum near each night scented jasmine in their planting plan, and enjoy the changed fragrance and summer butterflies (including the monarchs) that love c. diurnum!

First off, I LOVE the scent of Night Blooming Jasmine. I have ever since I lived in southern CA, where there were very popular.

I am now living in Longboat Key, FL and have recently purchased a NBJ from a very reputable, online nursery for my garden. It arrived in PERFECT condition. Since its arrival, I have had the hardest time acclimating this plant to being outside. I initially tried to immediately plant the 2 foot plant into my indigenous soil but it did not tolerate the full sun or perhaps heat, (although it's not that hot here yet), and within 24 hours, I had to uproot it and plant it into a container and bring it indoors. It nearly died.

I resurrected this plant by bringing it indoors and placing it under a 150W CFL Ecobulb, which it loves! I keep my indoors at 75-78 degrees. I give this plant about 8 to 10 hours of the ecobulb everyday, and it does well under it! If I take it out onto my fully shaded porch, it starts to wilt within an hour! Today was my most recent attempt. I placed it out into full shade, with the following conditions: Temp 80 degrees F, Winds S @ 5 mph, and 66% humidity. Within an hour it was starting to wilt and trying to die again.

All the best!

Mac
Longboat Key, FL
Zone 9b

We've had this potted plant for 4 years and it does well inside in the winter here in WI. In the summer, I leave it out on our deck. It loves wet feet and whenever it looks a little droopy it's because of lack of water. My wife and I travel some, so have to remember to flood it when we leave.
Whenever I want it to bloom, I give it some plant food and about 5-7 days later they come on. I snip off all the dead flowers.
Wondering if coffee grounds would help or hurt this plant.
We love the fragrance.
Is re-potting the plant necessary? The plant is about 3 feet tall and the pot is about 1 foot in diameter.

I have planted C. nocturnum for 6 consecutive years now. They are planted in a 24x24" container and I place it on the deck with a NE exposure. I feed it once every 2 week with bloom boosting plant food. If chlorosis occurs, I add an iron supplement. Of course, in my zone (7a) it is not root hardy so I must order each spring. I cut it back after each flowering cycle and can get 3 flushes of blooms before frost.
The scent to me is wonderful and I don't find it overpowering at all.
Of course, since all parts are toxic, I'd avoid planting it where children and pets have access to it. Lee

I have not trusted mine to our winters out doors. I cut it back and bring it inside. I threaten to only bring in cuttings but I hate to just leave the "mother" outside to die. I have found many folks who cannot smell the fragrance, myself included, and others who love the fragrance. My grandchildren say it smells like candy and are unhappy that they cannot eat it like other plants. It may be coincidence but all of the people who say they cannot smell it are smokers.
I have shared many cuttings. This wonderful plant grows readily from cuttings and has never needed rooting hormone for encouragement. I gave my daughter a 10 inch cutting the last week of August and by October it was blooming. Easy plant to grow!

I absolutely love this plant. It's a must for any moon garden, and the fragrance wafts in the air at night.
I have it in a sheltered warm spot, against a north facing fence, and it gets reflected heat from a brick pathway.
I doesn't like to go dry and it loves acid fertilizer (as use camellia/azalea fertilizer).

This plant is a prolific bloomer in the French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny sections of New Orleans. Humorous tidbit: In the "old days" this plant was grown to mask the scent of the out-houses. In modern days it combines a traditional jessamine fragrance with a luscious citrus scent and a hint of patchouli. It's scent is intoxicating and alluring after an August rain shower has cooled off and ushered in a relaxed late-summer evening.

As opposed to popular belief, this plant is NOT deer resistant. I know a deer will eat anything if it's hungry enough. But they still chose to strip my 3 NBJ's down to the main stem instead of other plants in the yard that were supposedly "deer candy." They were 3' tall...not exactly young twigs.

Purchased this plant as a four inch cutting in March and it is now three feet tall and wide and forming flowers. Cannot wait to smell the fragrance. Cuttings from shaping, root easily.

I purchased a plug of Night Flowering Jessamine in March of this year. It was a little less than 2 inches tall when I brought it home, but after 5 months (2 of which were spent indoors) it is now a foot tall and is sending out side shoots. The main stem is getting woodier, and the leaves are slowly getting bigger and bigger as they unfurl from the growing points. I will definately post pics and gush about it when it flowers! It's not even flowering yet and I am absolutely enthralled by it!

I HATE this plant---my mother loved it and planted it outside our windows in Fort Myers and it just nauseated me---it's fragrance is way too strong for me. It grew like a weed in my yard. YUK
Be careful and make sure all your household likes it. I sure agree with Paul! Years later I planted and enjoyed a gorgeous Confederate jasmine that had a beautiful fragrance. Birds built a nest in it and I was thrilled until a snake got to it and swallowed all the eggs! I dont live in FL anymore!

I'm sorry to be a pedant in this regard, but I've been a gardener for over 60 years, and it's only recently that I have ever heard this plant referred to as night-blooming JASMINE. In the past it was always JESSAMINE, which may, in itself be a corruption of the word jasmine. The reason this troubles me is that the more we simplify and use the same word for more and more plants, the less information we convey. For example, there are four totally different plants, different genera in fact, that are referred to as "flowering orange" in my area ( S.F. Bay). What confusion!

It was about 1955 in Ft. Lauderdale. We had no A/C and my bedroom windows were open. The night blooming jasmine my mother had planted near my window was in full bloom. I finally got up about 1:00AM, put on my clothes, got a shovel and dug the blasted sweet smelling thing up and threw it across the back fence. It was an awful sickening sweet odor. Here it is 2008 and I still remember it well!
Paul

I don't have one of these now (want one!), but there was one in the backyard at my former residence. One night I was walking and as I turned on my block this wonderful fragrance just hit me.

I was 4 houses away and it got stronger as I got near my house. Then I realized it was my Night Blooming Jasmine I was smelling halfway down the block!!

Yes, it is very strong! Nothing like walking out on a warm night and experiencing the heady smell of jasmine.

My dad gave me a stick of NBJ in a yogurt cup filled with dirt from his back yard. I put it in a pot while renting and it grew to over 5 feet. I had it for over a year in the pot, it lost leaves, was neglected, not watered regularly and never bloomed. THEN we bought our first home and the first thing I did was plant that sucker on the south side of our lattice enclosed patio. That was april. By the summer we had several successions of blooms. The smell would just waft accross the patio like a purfumed spector. LOVE THIS PLANT. Grew to spreadabout four feet wide by 6-7 feet tall. I did use some yarn to keep it upright and more wall-like. Collected lots and lots of seeds. It looks dead right now, but I hope to see new growth soon (fingers crossed). Anyone want seeds?

If heaven has a scent, it has to be night blooming jasmine!

I first smelled this beautiful fragrance in Corona Del Mar many years ago. I was walking to the beach one evening with some friends and we were all amazed that the entire town smelled like this flower. When I moved to Northern Calif. I had to take one with me. I've started dozens of new plants for family and friends from cuttings. I have to water deeply everyday in the summer or it wilts and the blossoms fall off. Once every week to ten days in the winter is sufficient. I almost lost it one year to aphids. My gardner gave it a shot of rose food and Safer Soap and it came back heathier than ever. I feed it once a month in the blooming season.

When I'm out-of-town during the warm months I make my children swear that they'll water everyday. They joke that I love my jasmine more than I love them.

we have enjoyed night-bloooming jasmine since our trip to Jamaica, West Indies. they have a restaurant called the "Callabash" in Montego Bay. the jasmine grow in the front as you enter the door. it just about knocks you down as you first approach it but sitting outside overlooking the bay the light breeze carries the sweet scented fragrance all over the place. nothing like enjoying your favorite seafood dish, good drinks, and good friends with such a romantic setting and fragrance in the air.
we have left these plants in every yard that we've had from Florida to Alaska (brought them in-doors during the winter in Alaska...for sure). now living in West Virginia i wonder if i can leave them outside in the ground for winter or leave them in their pots and bring into the garage. what do you think???
how often do i need to water them in the winter's here i wonder? does anyone now?

I love the strong frag of this plant but I can see where overexposure to this scent might give some a headache. Easy to root. Mine are thirsty plants, if you ignore they get yellow and limp quickly. best to plant near water source or in moist area of garden.

I love this plant but it is highly toxic, not only if ingested, but by odour as well. I had it in full bloom in my studio where it was slowly poisoning me with its scent. The blooms may be closed during the day, and not as evident with fragrance, but after i suffered bouts of dizziness, nausea and mental confusion, working in there 8 hours at a time, i moved it to the greenhouse!
I have taken cuttings to propagate, and am experimenting with leaving the mother plant in the greenhouse for this winter. We are in a zone 8 area of Vancouver Island.

I purchased two of these plants this past spring from a nursery in Lafayette, LA. They are planted in containers on my deck following the suggested size pots. They have reached about three feet and shown no blooms. I was so looking forward to having this plant and am puzzled by the lack of bloom. The enclosed directions said to let them dry out before watering which I have done. They look healthy enough, just no blooms. It is a puzzle, would appreciate any suggestions.

I bought this as a little one gallon plant a couple months ago and now it's the same height as I am (6') and covered in blooms. The blooms are pretty as are the leaves. The fragrance is overwhelming- it could just be that it's so hot and humid here at the moment and I have it right by the back door. It's not your typical jasmine scent- it smells to me like "super elastic bubble plastic" from my childhood. I'm going to move it away from the door... and if that doesn't work, maybe it will become a gift.

I have had night blooming jasmines for years. I live in Central FLorida and have had no problem growing the NBJ. My only problem is finding a place big enough for the plant. The one I currently have is about 12' X 12'. I used to have it in my courtyard, but it outgrew that area. So I moved it to the backyard. I didn't like being transplanted and didn't put out many blooms that summer, but the next year, it was growing like a weed.
I have never heard that it attracts snakes. Where I live there are plenty of snakes, but I don't see any more or less than normal.
Right now, July 2007, it is blooming and puts out a fragrance that can be smelled throughtout the neighborhood at night. The fragrance is only over powering if you get near the plant.

My mother in-law cut one of her Night Blooming Jasmines in half with a shovel, stuck it in a pot and gave it to me a couple of winters ago. I took it home and put it on the patio - all the leaves fell off and I had a pot of what looked like dead sticks! I went ahead and planted it that Spring and by the end of the Summer it had bloomed twice and was up to the roof of the house! The fragrance is wonderful and you can smell it for 100 yards away! Now it blooms five or six times a year. Mine also gets the white looking fruit on it after it blooms but I'm not sure what that is. We cut it down to about a foot from the ground each year and it comes right back.

This is my first year trying this plant (as a potted plant, of course). Since I love fragrant plants, I'm looking forward to experiencing the aroma of this plant this summer. I have limited space to over-winter plants...with limited sun light.

The fragrance is wonderful. Best enjoyed outside. Even a small cutting was overpowering in the house. Even got my husband's attention. He's asked that we get more for 2008 since we didn't overwinter ours.

Epsom salts in the soil or mixed in the watering can will kill most spider mites and sucking pests. The salts act as a natural systemic. Usually a tablespoon to a 2 gallon can works fine.

I heard jasmine -- queen of night -- are known to attract snakes. I was wondering is someone else has heard this as well?

I'm in San Diego, a couple miles from the ocean. I'm not much of gardener.

A landscaper planted one of these in the middle of my front yard a little over a year ago. After a few months, it just had a few leaves that stayed attached, and didn't grow at all. Then somewhere around late spring, it put out a few new stalks that grew up to around five feet. The plant seemed a picture of health. A couple of months ago, it started to drop leaves, and now the bottom half is bare, and the top half has leaves that are curled up and would fall off if I brushed them.

What should I do? If I cut it back so low that there are no leaves, might it grow back?

I am confused as to when I can expect to see flowers on our Star Jasmines.
We bought a several huge ones to plant outside and cover some wooden fences.
They arrived in June/July (with a few flowers on them), and now it is January, and we have yet to see any new flowers.
Is this typical?
I am in Los Angeles, btw.
Thanks

I have a night blooming jasmine outside my dining room window. Love the wonderful fragrance but now it has started to show a white, sticky kind of fungus and I don't know what it is our how to get rid of it. The dryer vent for my clothes dryer is located beside the plant but has not caused any problems in the 2 years we have had it. Can anyone help?

Thanks.

I live in Ocala, Florida and I have had great luck with the night blooming jasmine. It is a year old. It bloomed five times from spring to end of October. I cut it back and it let loose with literally thousands of blossoms coating every stalk and making a fantastic scent in the whole neighborhood! The regenerated leaves bushed out fast and the whole thing has been a great joy!
Then these black moths would come at night and take the pollen for about an hour. At first I thought they were hummingbirds, with fast wings and moving that way. Then I found one sleeping and it was a moth.

NBJ being a tropical does like watering every day in my area and really does love a weekly application of fish emulsion and seaweed. I put four plants in the ground about the middle of April this year and they are all about 8 to 9 feet tall now with heavy fragrance. I intend to bed them this winter with a good amount of heavy mulch.

I have wintered over a one year plant indoors in St. Paul (Zone 4b) and planted cuttings (rooting compound was necessary) to get enough plants to really get the scent in my yard. Fragrant flowering did not occur until early August. The indoor plant flowered once in January for a fragrant (and maybe overwhelming) surprise.

I brought a Night Blooming Jasmine plant back with me while on vacation in southern California. I live in eastern Mo; Zone 5, and have it in a 12 inch pot on my patio. I have been afraid to plant it in the ground because our temps in winter can go down to 0 degrees, although the past few years have been relatively mild. I have had this plant since the middle of May and it has produced plenty of leaves, but no flowers!! I have decided to risk all and plant this near the house and hope it survives the winter. if anyone has a suggestion as to why this plant has not produced flowers, I would appreciate some input! Thanks and cross your fingers! Jackie B

I can only grow this as a house plant but it grows well indoors. After a couple of years you have a house shrub. The flowers are unbelievably fragrant at night. In the morning it isn't as pleasant - I think I read somewhere that in Somalia it is called Lady of the Night because as much as you enjoy the fragrance in the evening it is too much to face in the morning. Afterwards the plant has small attractive white berries.

It grows easily from cuttings and from seed. It blooms while quite small.

This is one of my favorite plants and if you put it outdoors the hummingbird moths cannot resist it.

I love the smell but as we have three large shrubs and my daughter has allergies to perfumes, she isn't crazy about it.
So, I'm going to prune them down and try and propagate the prunings for trades and to give away. When's the best time of the year to take cuttings from it in Florida? Should I take soft green, or hard wood cuttings? My sister said someone told her they were very easy to root.
Cheryl
new e-mail addy at:
windyrr2@earthlink.net

We live in Perth, Western Australia (where it's now mid summer). We enjoy a Mediterranean climate. Our Night Blooming Jasmine is at least 10 years old. When we moved in 9 years ago we almost pulled it out, as we brushed past it on our way into the shed and hated the smell of the leaves! (Do others relate to this?) So glad we didn't. Now it is about 15 feet tall, and we look forward to the gorgeous fragrance each summer. The only problem is that it's now quite straggly. How severely can it be pruned?

I smelled night blooming jasmine 26 years ago in St. Pete Fla. then 25 years ago i moved to Arkansas, I looked all over for this magnificent plant. In 2003 I found her in a plant outlet warehouse in Pine Bluff, Ar. The plants i got are doing great i do bring them in for the winter but they are blooming right now. I live in Stuttgart Ar. and night blooming jasmine is alive and well. 10/2/2004

I grow this in a cool greenhouse in Zone 5/6 -- the scent is HEAVENLY!! Nothing like it!

I bought two 3 gallon containers of this plant last year at the end of summer. I planted them next to our pergola in afternoon sun. These plants went straight up and were blooming by mid September. They continued until our first hard feeze. I cut them back and forgot about them. By April they were coming back bigger than before. This year they are as tall as the 8 ft. pregola and do not seem to be stopping. I enjoyed reading on your site that these suckers can be cut back. I was afraid to do anything to them but they are taking over. My friends all want some of this thing and I am anxious to try rooting some. It is a most wonderful exotic fragrance and no one in Mobile seems to have this plant but me. We have no mosquitos out back this year so maybe it is this plant. I hope to have them up front next year.

In my humble opinion this is the worst plant I've ever put in my garden! I live in L.A. and planted it against an east-facing wall to hide the wall and provide its famous scent in the evening. The plants grew quickly and one even survived a messy transplant with little dieback. But despite the fact that they get good sun and nice shade in the afternoon, and despite following a garden expert's advice on feeding and watering, the plants are generally yellowy and weak-looking, not the lush shrub I was hoping for. Then, the famous scent came -- and did it ever! I love the scent of jasmine but this plant was far from the delicate feminine fragrance I've known from star jasmine and trachleospermum -- it was an in-your-face, overpowering, cheap body lotion sort of experience. Then, worst of all, the plants became infested with this awful gnats that swarm with the slightest provocation. So these shrubs are being pulled-out this weekend and I tell you, I won't miss them!

I purchased two plants at a local farmer's market and planted them in zone 5 in a very large pot as I plan to winter them inside. It starts to bloom as the sun goes down and I have the pot near my bedroom french doors which is wonderful! A full (or waxing) moon seems to stimulate the release of the fragrance.

UPDATE as of 11/4/2004: I brought the plant inside when the leaves dropped and cut it way back. It is now starting to sprout green leaves again.

8/23/05: Lost one of the 2 plants and purchased 3 more on-line which have grown to about 4 feet tall in a large pot. Just started to bloom a few nights ago and the other night we sat very close to enjoy the lovely sweet fragrance when to our surprise a baby hummingbird no more than 1/2" long came to visit and actually stayed for about a half hour. He even brushed against my arm and seemed to be intoxicated by the nectar.

My night blooming jasmine is now 2 years old and is growing in southern-most South Dakota. I do overwinter it inside a sunny-south facing porch-enclosure during the coldest winter months. However, it is outside most of the year. Several times I have forgotten it outside and it has survived snow, ice, and other freezing weather. When it is growing inside, it can get spindly, however, if you pinch out the branches as soon as it turns nice out, it will come back in no time. It LOVES fish emulsion fertilizer which gives the leaves a dark-green color and silky sheen. People always stop and ask me what it is : ) If you keep them trimmed back, the frangrance isn't so overpowering--its a good way to control the smell at a level that you like.

I've had the Night Blooming Jasmine for a couple of years now. The first time I experienced the scent was in the Bahamas. It was planted at the entrance to the house where I was staying and I didn't know @ the time what it was. Sometime later, when I smelled it at a nursery in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I realized it was what I experienced in the Bahamas! Such a wonderful scent which I absolutely love! One problem, the first two I had became infested with mealy bugs. I sprayed and pruned, but lost the plant. This year, I rinsed them off with tap water from the hose, but may try spraying with Safer Soap. I would love to try bringing a clump of the flowers inside to see how the scent fills the room! I haven't tried that yet. It's the most wonderful smell. It's on my patio by the backdoor. You can smell it very strongly when in full bloom. Right now, it's full of blooms. Happy planting!

I started my plant from a clipping rooted in a cup of water. It barely developed root buds in the water, but as soon as I stuck it in potting soil it took off.

I've had some problem with aphids and the tiny ants that have a symbiotic relationship with them. I cut back the damaged portions and treated the plant with Safer Soap, but had to repeat the treatment later in the season. It froze to the ground (I'm in Orlando, Florida) a couple of seasons ago, but it's come back strong, about 3 feet in diameter at it's largest.

It blooms its little brains out. You can smell it all over the back yard. I have a pretty sensitive case of hay fever, but the night blooming jasmine must not be on my allergin list - it's never bothered my nose/lungs. I occasionally water it and every once in a great while give it a shot of Peter's Plant food.

An herbaceous perennial here in zone 9a. Comes back dependably even from our occasional hard freeze.
The scent is glorious, though, as others have pointed out, it can be overwhelming.
A tiny sprig in an indoor vase will night-scent the entire house; usually the sprig will form roots.
Propagate by seed, softwood or hardwood cuttings, or by dividing or removing suckers.

I loved this plant because of what i have hared about it so far. i planted 4 of them each in a different location. Complete shade, partial shade and full sun light just to get, at least one, to bloom. i appreciate any info on how to make this plant a success. i am getting a fifth plant to grow in house. i have great success with Jasmine but not with the night queen so far. i live in Saudi Arabia where temp. can go up to 50 C in the summer days (July - Aug) and drops to 40 C at night with humidity approaching 90-100% sometimes. it cools down to 10 C during winter time. Any help tips appreciated (watering frequency, location, fertilizer etc.) thanx :). i have posted a picture with one in full sun light.

A WONDERFUL PLANT WITH A MAGICAL SCENT
GREW UP WITH THIS PLANT IN MIAMI FLORIDA
HAVE ALSO SEEN THE PLANT IN ANTIGUA (BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS)
I HAVE ONE NOW IN OCALA FL
AND IT IS BLOMING TONIGHT SOOOOOOOOOO NICE !!!!!!!!

This is my most favourite flower, one of the things I miss most since I have left India. The fragrance is unbelievably addictive, mystic and unforgettable.

The amazing thing about the plant is that there appears to be no fragrance when you go near it, but the breeze will bring you the amazing strong fragrance once in a while.

Apart from insects and bugs, the plant is often known to attract snakes.

The flowers are delicate and can stay in a vase for a night or two if given good water. The fragrance is released only in the dark.

Please let me know if someone has information about getting the seeds in Europe. It would also be great if someone could share his/her experience with growing it in the cold west-european weather.

Growing in the Tampa Bay area, the plant does exceptionally well, even on the north side of the house where it has reached the roof to find the sun. In the evening, we can open the doors and windows and the house is filled with the wonderful fragrance. It takes pruning well but needs frequent spraying to protect it from both chewing and piercing/sucking insects.

I have grown it outside and in pots here in the mountains of North Carolina (U.S.)

We have had our night blooming jasmine (2 plants) in our yard for over a year. They flower and produce berries. However they have not produced any fragrance.

The Queen of the Night is also known in the Sub-Continent as RAAT KI RANI. A pride to have in the garden in India and Pakistan. People dress themselves with these deep intoxicating flowers.

I live in Southern California and think the birds planted this in my garden. I thought it was a lemon tree seedling coming up the first year and cut it back to the ground. Now it is a small tree. The smell is fabulous, and flowers about every 6 weeks. I realized what it was after I bought two more plants, and then compared the leaves and flowers. Today I thank the birds since the one they planted is doing much better than the two I bought!

So far it's been no-care plant for me.

Living near New Orleans, Louisiana (U.S.), Night-Blooming Jasmines do well in our wonderfully rich soil. My mother lives on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and is envious because hers grow in a sandy soil or in pots. The one she gave me a few years ago traditionally reaches over 8 feet tall (after having to be cut back because of freezes.) My daughter says spring, summer and fall smell so good (the plant is right outside the front door, so anyone coming in or out have the wonderful experience of the scent). This year, it had pups and I wanted info about transplanting them, which I found in the Plants Database. Thank you!!

2003- I grew my Night Jasmine from a seed. It is now 2 1/2 years old and the roots have outgrown its fourth container. I don't think I can get a much bigger container inside for the winter (I'm on the edge of zone 6/7 in southeastern Pennsylvania (U.S.) I sure wish I could plant it outside (and protect it somehow) so it can really thrive (and hopefully bloom more), but I am afraid to lose it to the winter.

(I decided to plant it outside.)
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AUGUST 2004 - First year results of my experiment:

Can Night Jasmine grow in Zone 6 (USA)?

Well, I planted my 2.5 foot tall Night Jasmine outside on the south wall of the house where it flourished and bloomed profusely last summer. It grew to nearly five foot. In autumn I mulched it heavily (about 8 inches) and hoped for the best. I also took 6 cuttings (for inside)and they rooted with ease. The entire plant died all the way down to the ground (we had one of our worst winters ever last year) but it came back in mid-June. I also planted the cuttings around it this summer and the entire clump is now about 2 feet tall, but it has not bloomed yet.

One thing is sure, this plant is very tough, a lot hardier than you might think. We had temps down to 0 degrees (or lower) some nights last winter.

More people should try this plant in the north, the fragrance is wonderful.

I hope it blooms this year before the frost, and that it survives the winter again.

Will keep you all posted on results.

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OCT 2005

Sorry to report my night Jasmine did not come back this past spring. So it came back from the winter one year (last year), but I guess it was too weak to come back for a second : (

I love this plant! However, once, when I was over-wintering it in the house, it bloomed before I realized it. Outside it produces a fabulous fragrance, inside it is overwhelming.

I live in Central Arkansas, USDA Zone 7; mine is in the ground this year and I'm thinking of leaving a little bit of it outside to see if it will make it with heavy mulch.

This plant is used in Spain to deter mosquitoes at nighttime, as well as other flying insects like flies.

I live in Oakland California (U.S.) on a hot southwest facing slope. My Night-Blooming Jasmine was planted in front of a hot wall in a raised bed and with considerable smog from a busy street only a few feet away. It survived several years with no water before I moved in. I think it is much tougher than it is given credit for. We don't get hard freezes though. It has even reacted negatively to regular water, but it is established. This is one of my new favorites!

I have enjoyed this plant since buying my first home, where there are two of the night blooming jasmines, one each on the front and rear of my home.

The once-enjoyable aroma has become unbearable and I find I am having allergic reactions and believe it is the Night-Blooming Jasmine. Usually I keep it trimmed back as it is in front of my son's window so that he gets a view of our yard, but it has gone crazy in the last month with new growth and is nearly as tall as my house.

I planted one near a busy highway in central Florida (U.S.) It is surrounded by hot concrete and car exhausts, gets very little shade, watering, pruning or care of any kind. Four years later, it stands 8 feet tall, five feet across and blooms all summer and fall. Frosts and drought do not seem to affect it.

In Puerto Rico, to my surprise, this tree is not very common. It is incredible how the seeds and flowers atract all kind of birds and insects. Hummingbirds, bees, butterflyes come frequently to eat the seeds or suck the nectar. It is hard to believe, unless one has the chance to see it.

The only drawback is the high amount of seeds that fall on the ground/pots and become seedlings really fast. It is the price to pay for having the pleasure of watching other living organisms interacting with a tree. A tree like this at least in the tropics, makes a common garden, a habitat.

I greatly enjoyed my two large jasmines while they were in bloom- the fragrance is wonderful. However, I learned one thing the hard way. This plant is EXTREMELY susceptible to mealy bugs. None of my many other plants had the bugs, so these two clearly had them when I took them home from the nursery. Always check them very carefully before buying.

To me, the scent is to die for! It brings strong memories of summer childhood.

I was ready to prune it during the holiday break, as we're in the middle of winter in Los Angeles, California (U.S.) and suddenly the scent was so strong I had get a flashlight and find the source! It's more full of flowers that at the peak of summer, even though this morning I had ice on my car!

I have had night blooming jasmines for 16 years. I am a fragrance person and LOVE the fragrance, but as another poster noted, it is a powerful fragrance and if you have an allergy, you would have a big one.

Propagating...I am not positive if it spreads by root or by seed or both. but I know it does inlarge and send off shoots that become or are separate plants. Transplants very easily. We had to move and just dug it up and relocated. Doesn't like it too dry being a tropical.

Very lush and erotic fragrance and I clip it and put it inside but it still only blooms after dark.

Mine has frozen back (Living in South Texas, it doesn't freeze too hard) and have not lost a plant.

Update 7-24-04 Read a tag on a plant at a nursery "Blooms only in the full moon." Interesting. I never connected the two. Doesn't like wet feet.

While night blooming jasmine is a gorgeous plant with charming blooms, the scent also produces severe allergic reactions in some individuals. Please be aware of this, especially when planting near a child's window or a neighbor's fence. Nighttime allergy and asthma attacks can be very serious. Thank you!

An evergreen shrub to 12 ft tall with 4 to 8 inch leaves and clusters of creamy white flowers in the summer, setting white berries in the fall.

Nip back consistently to maintain compact form and cut back severely after flowering or fruiting.

It may freeze back by a heavy frost but will recover quickly. Hardy to 15°F.