PlantFiles: Orange Cestrum, Yellow Shrub Jessamine
Cestrum aurantiacum

I planted this last Spring, right away I noticed holes in the leaves, after much research and inspecting the plant I found out small green caterpillars are munching it. I chose to go non-toxic to save the plant and used garlic oil on it. Crush up 2 cloves of garlic and soak them in approx. 1 cup of vegetable oil for 1 week, add 2 tablespoons of this oil to a spray bottle then fill with water and a little dish soap, spray on the leaves about once a week or after rainfall. the caterpillars hate the taste of the garlic. Hope this helps you pjfrench, this plant is worth saving.

Have this under a large natchez crepe myrtle . the hummingbirds like it but not as much as the red one that I have in full sun . this year it lost all its leaves and began growing from the tips and now is supertall. I must trim it so it will become bushy again .

Help , My beautiful Orange Jessamine Cestrum aurantiacum seems to be dying.
It has lost most of its leaves. It has been growing for 3 years, been through the light frost last year with no problem. It is in light shade of Cypress trees. We had a lot of rain last month, but nothing else has suffered. Does anyone have any ideas. No bugs visible.

I bought this plant at Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC. I was very excited when it started to bloom. It is a beautiful shrub and really does have flowers all summer. I did not do any thing to it that winter and was very disappointed when it did not come back the following spring. Being a little stubborn, or so I've been told, I purchased another last summer. This winter I cut it back and mulched heavily. This spring I have multiple shoots coming up.
I have a nursery located in Ooltewah,TN, zone 7. I propagate most of my stock. Orange Cestrum is fairly easy to propagate and I intend on propagating more this summer for resale.

This Cestrum species is a great deal more hardy than other Cestrum I have grown. 2009 was our worst winter in decades here in north Florida. My Cestrum aurantiacum came through 20s F temperatures sustained for about a two week period. It barely showed any freeze damage, just some slight die-back at the stem tips. It blooms here from early spring up until the first freeze, and does retain its leaves in winter.

The thing you need to consider if starting from a rooted cutting is the eventual large size of the full grown shrub. My C. aurantiacum started from about 24 inches a few years ago and has grown steadily to now become an 8 ft x 8 ft shrub. I would not have planted it where I did if I had known it was eventually going to get so huge, but it does provide a nearly constant cheery yellow welcome near the front stoop of my house.

Edited to add 02/18/2011: Last fall, I divided up my one large shrub of C. aurantiacum, taking numerous suckers from around the immediate area of the original plant. I transplanted these, mostly bare root, to another area of my yard and potted up a few to have to share. I am now seeing new growth on all the transplants and potted suckers! This definitely adds another very positive note to a plant that I consider greatly underutilized for Florida landscapes.

Jeremy

I LOVE this plant. It bloomed its head off during the drought we had this summer, and is one of the first plants to put out leaves after the cold winter we had.

I'm currently overwinter this lovely plant indoor, this afforded the plant to continue develope its seeds after the growing season outdoor. These seeds will be sewn this coming spring, should they be viable, I'll update info. here at a later time.

My gardener brought me three of these plants for a fence screening here in Nor. Ca. A former Victorian era favorite, they have been unavailable from wholesalers for decades. East Bay Nursery propagated a number of cuttings from a 50-yr-old shrub growing in an old-timer's garden and it is finally available again. A rangy plant, it needs staking and pruning to look its best. Here on the West Coast it is evergreen, vigorous and hardy, and blooms continuously. You are supposed to prune it after it stops flowering. However, I have both the red and orange cestrums--both types in bloom within 6 wks after being planted from 1-gall containers, and they are now in their fourth month of bloom with no end in sight. Flower best with regular water, mulching, nicely self-cleaning (you don't need to deadhead). Need very little care, no pest problems, ultimate height said to be 15'T x 8'W.

Easy to grow (especially when you're given rooted cuttings!) The hummingbirds have really enjoyed these plants this summer; I hope we have a mild enough winter that they come back next year.