PlantFiles: Confederate Jasmine, Star Jasmine
Trachelospermum jasminoides

Our Trachelospermum J has recently shown significant growth followed by the well known white star flowers.

We have now observed that "hundreds" of what look like small 'green-bottle' flies have been attracted to the blooms and stuck their probiscuses into the centre - but apparently are unable to withdraw them, almost as if the flower has clamped them. The just struggle there until they die. I have tried pulling a few out, which can be done but with considerable difficulty! I have now transferred a couple of chameleons from other plants in the garden to this one, and they seem very happy with their new-found source of food! But I was wondering if anyone can throw any light on the phenomenum we are experiencing? Has anyone seen anything similar, and do they know why it happens?

Love the smell of this. I've planted this in part shade and it still produces lovely blooms. Attracks the hummingbirds like crazy. It seems to be fairly invasive. I often cut back the reaching vines...but then it seems to bloom more for me ;-)

Also, I have to admit the soil it's planted in is mostly clay with some topsoil on top. Still thrives! Love this plant!

We live in zone 5b around 60 miles SW of Chicago. Our confederate jasmine claims it is winter hardy to 0 F. While we overwinter ours in a heated (50F) garage, we are going to attempt to overwinter outdoors on the southern exposure of our home. We have had good luck with banana trees overwintering with a heavy mulch, so thought we'd give it a try. Will let you all know in the Spring 2010! Wish us luck!

I have it in a clay pot of 14 inches and it bloomed in spring and not after months. blooms are small and fragrant. It is not a vigorous grower as compared to other jasmines. i think it needs more fertilizer. its in partial sun.
Khabbab
Lahore Pakistan

I am having massive problems with my star jasmine. I bought it last fall as a good sized plant. It has grown and is vining up a trellis in pretty much full sun. It has never looked healthy however. It has looked worse as the summer has progressed. The leaves have yellowed to the point that I suspect one day soon it will expire. We have heavy clay here. We dug a big hole, used 1/4 to 1/2 compost, some time release fertilizer and have watered it reasonalby. What oh, what am I doing wrong? I usually have a pretty green thumb.

My confederate jasmine is about 6 or 7 years old now, and was started in a pot in Conroe, Texas (about 30 miles north of Houston). It was moved in the pot to Yoakum, Texas (about 120 miles south of Houston) in 2004, and planted in the ground at that time, with a trellis for support. It is quite hardy, having survived a couple freezes in Conroe and a freak snow and ice storm as well as a couple freezes at this location. It is now in full bloom, and the flowers have always been extremely fragrant. I am extremely pleased with this vine, and plan on trying to propagate to other locations around my land. I highly recommend this plant for its fragrant blooms and year-round greenery.

I bought 3 in 2007, and no flowers, I was ready to get rid of it, but I was told to have patience, and do not over fertilize it.
This April 2009 they are blooming beautiful.
Two of them receive the afternoon sun and sprinklers twice a week, the other gets the morning sun, and does not bloom as much.

I purchased a 1 gallon specimen in 2006 and planted it along a 6ft wooden fence along the south side of my house near Memphis TN. It grows in ph6.0-6.5 clay soil with only part sun. It has done well despite a setback with a large dog in 2007. I collected seeds for the 1st time just a few days ago in early Feb 2009. I will need to trim it back a little. It blooms in early summer for 3-4 weeks.

I love this plant. It grows against our house on a small metal trellis. We get quite cold some years. We've gotten to 11 and 13 this year. We've also gotten 6" of snow. The plant seems fine. Its been here for 8 years at least. Perhaps we haven't gotten any die-back because it is against the house?

One of my absolute favorites! Just a few flowers smell the whole surrounding area. I lived in Seattle and it did just fine outdoors in a pot on the deck. Very hardy! Survived a ride on the back of a trailer with a tarp smashing it all the way to WI where it finally died after an awful hot summer. Finally mail ordered a new one and am also curious how well it handles the winter indoors.

Can't say enough good things. We plant it everywhere. I ignored it all winter and it was great, even through a 19 degree freeze, and one that I hadn't even put it in the GROUND yet. We plant it in pots, let it climb all over the porch, and intersperse it in the front garden to work as ground cover. It smells fabulous, blooms for months, and doesn't looks all gross and dead when it quits blooming. It's dark green all winter, and it will grow in full, hot, blazing, Texas sun or full shade. It grows much slower in shade but will still bloom.

Love this stuff.

Purchased this plant in a six inch pot already in bloom. Plopped it in the ground at the corner of our lattice-enclosed pattio and it is slowly making it's way throughthe front and side. Survived the winter with minimal damage (none, in fact) and am hopeful it will take off once things warm up. Smell is great and very easy to take care of

Commonly grown throughout central and southern california. Mine usually flower throuout the year, heavily in the spring and summer, and sparingly through the fall and winter time. I just trimmed my jasmines today, as they had grown into a huge tangled mess, and trained them along a brick wall. I have posted a picture of 2 of the newly trimmed and trained vines if you'd like to take a look.

I love confederate jasmine! The flowers are the most wonderful thing I have ever smelled, plus they are so easy to grow they are basically maintenance free.

Confederate Jasmine is one of my favorite vines i have ever grown. the fragrance is absolutely heavenly and reminds me of warm southern summer nights spending time at the pool or near the lagoon harassing alligators... but anyways when it is in full bloom it looks like a night sky full of clusters and constellations of stars. i would reccomend this to any one who lives in the hardiness range.

Live in the Dallas area and have had 2 plants growing for 3 years now in the ground next to my patio cover. Have absolutely covered it and are wonderful climbers. You do need to keep the long, twisting vines under control as they try to latch on to everything.
Blooms pretty much all year, most prevalent in the Spring when I get hundreds if not thousands of flowers. Seed pods develop mid summer and usually burst Sept - October with tons of parachute type seeds.
Both of the plants have survived several winters without covering and we've experienced hard freezes as well as an occasional light snow.

Low maintenance evergreen vine, with a month of delightful fragrant blooms in the springtime. It is planted on the east side of the house and in zone 8a that is the only winter protection it receives.

This grows very well and quite quickly here in Southwest Florida. While it's very manageable, you must realize that these can grow into very strong vines. Don't grow it too close to the house, it can cause damage if left unchecked. We had a wooden fence that the vine literally started to tear apart. We cut it back and put in a wooden trellis about 1'' away from fence. But like I said, it's manageable and it will behave itself if you just monitor it. That vine has wrapped itself on the trellis, rather than the fence.

We bought a house that has only a chain link fence that separated us and a very close neighbor. However, taking out the fence proved unrealistic; there were all kinds of trees and bushes growing around/through the fence. Taking out the whole chain link fence meant killing probably at least eight mature trees or bushes.

But we wanted more privacy than just vines on the chain link fence. So we put a wooden trellis against the top rail of the chain link fence and we're now growing vines along it. We settled on confederate jasmine. From our experience, it will provide good cover quickly, offer a lovely fragrance for both us and our neighbors, and and it can grow all right in the lightly shaded areas along the fence.

This beautiful, prolific grower is a keeper, in Southern Alabama. The smell is wonderful! Watch what it's planted beside if you don't want it covered because it tends to go everywhere- we are constantly cutting it back. Even the smallest clippings root and bloom in no time.

I purchased 2 half gallon plants in 2002, one is on the east side of a chain link fence about 4 ft from the garage, it will bloom and cover the fence in one season. it gets full sun in the morning. The other one is under the east side of a tree, and covers the chain link fence, I get alot of burn back in winter freezes. I just cut off the dead at the top and its back in no time.I would recomend using this to cover ugly chain link fence. My neighbor says she enjoys it alot, she says it smells so good, however I do not think it is that fragrant. If not for the die back this would be too hard to keep in. I sould add this is limey clay soil.

This is a great plant. We love all jasmine. We also have a lakeview jasmine.The lakeview is new but supposed to grow fast like a tree. Blooms more than the confederate. I haven't pruned this confederate and don't know where to start. I also have verigated jasmine that does not do as well. Great Vine in Florida as I've never had to cover it in the last five years.

I live in Cabo Real - Baja Mexico - this jasmine grows very well here thriving in the hot sun with some irrigation. I'm now trying to root some clippings. The scent is devine!

I have had several of these at my house. The first was on a lattice against a brick wall, the evergreen vine was eyecatching on white lattice. It was wonderful and hardy, until we had to take it out to paint our brick. Others my neighbor and I share on a fence between houses and it was very thick and lush. I liked it so well that I planted two more on a fence mid way down my yard and two on either side of an arbor. For two years it has lived on that fence, but never thrived, I blamed too much shade. Then on the arbor it thrived and covered it in no time. The aroma of the blossoms is so wonderful! But unfortunately this year it got to the mid 20s and I lost the ones on the arbor, the ones mid way down the fence, and it seriously damaged the ones between the houses. I love it's aroma so much that I may try it again, but in a pot and cut it back to keep it manangeable. But cover it in case of a freeze.

My Confederate Jasmine has survived for the past 2 years in my Zone 7 garden, but never grew much and never bloomed. The leaves and younger stems were damaged by frost; the leaves take on a red-bronze hue when they are frost damaged. It does put on a little growth in spring, but never seems to get very far. I have moved the plant to a more frost-protected position near the house, and took a bunch of cuttings. I'll try some different locations with the rooted cuttings to see where (or IF) I can make it thrive in my garden.

My star jasmine had thrived for three years , has a great fragance when it flowers in April. Thrives well in very cold winters and hot summers here in Saltillo, Mexico. This plant is growing well and has covered a good portion of my fence.

Star jasmine is a proven performer here in Southern California. Its versatility, adaptability, drought resistance, and wonderful flowers & foliage make it a must have plant. It does well in full to partial sun, as a ground cover, bush, or climbing vine, and blooms spring to fall. For maximum flower power, guard against over pruning the new spring growth. Place it right outside the window of your favorite room, and let the breeze bring you an intoxicating treat.

Sudie Goodman, Zone 8b, Broaddus, SE, Texas
Purchased Star Jasmine in 6- inch pot in 2003, in full bloom.
Wow! the grandest fragrence!
Overwinter in greenhouse (no special light).
Began blooming in March. Placed pot on front porch for morning sun only which explains why it has few blooms and several dried leaves and vines.
I'll relocate to a new area where it gets more sun. Wondering Does this vine like to be pot bound? Will plant in ground as soon as I find accurate information on winter temperature tolerance.
Thank you, DG Family, for any information on when to tell if it needs larger pot? I'll check with County Agent about winter temperature adaptability.
Happy, productive Spring to All!

Star jasmine is a tough, easy to grow evergreen vine. The flowers release wonderful fragrance on spring and summer evenings. It is fully hardy in north Alabama, suffering only minor branch tip damage. Some foliage still survived intact during an almost 8 degree freeze in the winter of 2002 to 2003.

Mine has been in the ground for at least ten years in full shade and has taken that long to climb to the top of an 8 foot pillar. It's very luxurient but slow in the shade and am afraid to expose it to the desert sun. Blooms profusely in late March here in Phoenix.

One of my most favorite things about living in South Carolina was the Jasmine and Wisteria. Being a Wisconsinite military wife, being able to experience this plant growing and blooming in the wild against my house was just wonderful.

Before I left to move back to the land of cows and Packers, I purchased a 2' specimen at the local nursery, and after surviving an exciting ride through 6 states, it is growing like mad on a trellis in front of my full length window.

I plan on putting it outside in the summer, and I am hoping it will do well inside when things get cold. For those of you who have overwintered it indoors, did you use plant lights or just let things go naturally?

Star Jasmine has one of the best fragrances of any plant. I highly recomend this plant. I do not believe some of the hardiness posts above, someone said they are only good to 40 degrees, that is simply not true. I live in Oregon and we get well below 40 degrees and the Star Jasmine does wonderful. If it was going to get in the 10's to low 20's, I would probably cover the jasmine with a plastic sheet for protection. The way I see it, the plant is so wonderful that you simply have to have it. if it gets killed by a freak storm, well, next spring go buy a new one. Have fun and enjoy the fragrance.

I have several Star Jasmines in my yard and absolutely love them. This plant is very hardy here in So. California. It's drought tolerant too. Not terribly invasive like some other vines, but it can be somewhat fast growing once established.

The flowers are very fragrant. And it's a good scent that most will like, not at all displeasing. Star Jasmine has a very long blooming season. In So. California, from what I've observed, there are flowers on it from March until November.

Nothing bad to say about this plant except the it maybe toxic and the white sap can be irritating. So it's best to wear gloves when pruning or handling the plant.

I live in northwest Mississippi. It was very easy to grow and was beautiful. I did not know what to do during the winter months so I left it and am afraid to cut it back. I guess I will wait and see.

Every full moon, my Jasmine blooms. They are planted all around so that when windows are opened, the scent floats through the air - everywhere.

Easy to grow, but twines on EVERYTHING. Have to keep an eye on it, or it will latch itself all over.

This plant has survived temperatures down to the low teens in the ground here in Raleigh, NC area when sheltered from the coldest north/northwest winds and with enough shade from the summer sun. Local nurseries/growers claim this is a zone 8 plant (10deg F) which appears to be true, especially after winter 2002/2003. Just wanted to add this since the confederate jasmine exhibits further cold hardiness than mentioned above.

Fabulous frangrance in May, just in time for Mother's Day. Glossy, mostly evergreen foliage with reddish hues in the winter. Vigorous grower but not invasive as other vines in our regions (most notably Wisteria sp.).

I purchased this plant in the spring of 2003 and transplanted into a larger pot for the deck - it was glorious and the scent was a nice addition to outdoor living. The growth was amazing. The Star Jasmine was brought into our sun room in September (only good to outdoor degrees of 30)and did well for a few months. I just gave it the second dose of systemic (January 2004) as the leaves have a great deal of sap. It still has not lost many leaves and if we can keep it going for about 2 more months it can again be outside where I am certain it will grow and bless us again with the wonderful scent. I see by the website and the people who have added information that Washington State is certainly not noted for this plant but would appreciate hearing from anyone with a success story from this region.

This is a beautiful plant. I just started it on a copper arbor my husband built. The fragrance is wonderful.

I have lived here for more than two years now. Upon our arrival, this plant was growing wild (reaching into my livingroom window!!!) We did not know what it was, but decided to keep it as it looked so pretty. I cut it back to a more manageable size and it came back beautifully. I cover as much of it as I can in winter (since we do get a few hard freezes) and afterwards, I cut back what does not look good. By Spring, the growth amount is amazing and ready to burst with star shaped flowers. This is definetly a keeper for anyone who wants to cover a bald spot in the garden!

This plant behaves itself and does pretty much what the gardner wants it to do. It also grows fairly fast and, as my pictures show, attaches itself to unpainted wood. I have had poor experience trying to grow it on painted columns on my front porch--although, for those of you in zone 10, the vanilla bean orchid will attach to the painted surface of the columns.

This plant can also be grown as a low-growing groundcover shrub. It is often used in commercial plantings for an evergreen, easy-to-care-for hedge or 2'T groundcover.

I live in Zone 6 and have to keep my star jasmine inside during winter as it is not hardy below 40 degrees. It has been thriving here for 4 years and blooms every summer when outside. The fragrance is wonderful. Had a bout of mealy bugs last year. I treated with alcohol spray, but to no avail all the leaves fell off. I used a systemic treatment which cleared it up and it came back full force!