Gelsemium Species, Carolina Yellow Jasmine, Yellow Jessamine

On Apr 16, 2018, JennysGarden_TN from Collierville, TN wrote:

This plant is zero maintenance for my zone 7B garden. I trim to keep it in shape. Its masses of fragrant yellow flowers bring smiles to my Spring landscape.

On Jun 5, 2016, Carolhag from Medina, TX wrote:

I had planted Carolina. Yellow Jasmine before I had bees. Now I have had to remove it all. It is highly toxic to bees. They love it, but become highly intoxicated and then disoriented and causes their abdomen to become disended and they die. So please don't plant it if you like the bees.

On Mar 3, 2014, younggardener96 from Cypress, TX wrote:

I am new at this whole gardening thing but I truly enjoy it and love it. I recently built a pergola in my backyard and planted some Carolina Jessamine to grow up the sides. I live in zone 9a and we're slowly starting to finish up our winter however last night it got really cold! The leaves on my poor Jessamine are a dark green and kind of droopy. Help! How do I take care of this plant and will it survive a few more cold nights???

On Feb 18, 2013, starfarmer from Ann Arbor, MI (Zone 6a) wrote:

Vestia, that's toxic to *non-native* bees, including the invasive species we call honeybees; native species are immune or avoid the plant. Pretty funny, no?

And in case your state of mind persists, you'll be glad to know that according to the US Pharmacopeia, Gelsemium can treat irritability and "mental instability", among other ills!

On Aug 26, 2012, idahocactus2 from Boise, ID wrote:

Have had much luck with Carolina Jasmine here in the Boise Valley --- zones 6 - 7. The variety is 'Margarita', and I secured the plants from nurseries in Virginia and Pennsylvania. I have vines at my own house in Boise and at 3 other clients here in the Valley. They are all having good success!! The plants easily take temperatures down to zero [which is rare here], and little or no damage, and have bloomed regularly ever year. The plants are now over 5 years in the ground, and are even more vigorous. They put on their heaviest display this spring. Do they repeat blooming in other climates? There just seems to be that one time here in the Boise, Idaho area.

On Apr 17, 2012, BarbaraParis from Comerio, PR (Zone 11) wrote:

It is growing here in zone 11 in the forest ... I was walking and saw lots of yellow flower on the floor and then I looked up and there it was .. Very pretty.

On Jun 10, 2011, Shellsfarm from Grass Valley, CA (Zone 8b) wrote:

I've had my plant in the ground for 3+ years and I really don't know if it grows well SINCE THE STUPID DEER HAVE CONTINUOUSLY EATEN THE LEAVES OFF IT. Despite that, it lived. I finally dug it out of the ground and have it in a pot on my deck. It is struggling to thrive, only putting out a few tiny leaves. I hope I didn't kill it...

On Apr 1, 2011, roughbeast from Los Angeles, CA wrote:

We just planted what we thought was Carolina Jasmine in a large pot with a trellis, and it's doing fine. We're in Los Angeles, also known as a desert, so we'll have to water it. I have two concerns: the salesperson at the large garden chain that sold me this plant called it Carolina Jasmine, but the tag (which I didn't look at) says it's Swamp Jessamine Gelsemium rankinii - but still I would have thought that Caroline Jasmine must be another name for it (at the time I thought it was a true jasmine). When I looked up the Latin name I found that Carolina Jasmine is species sempervirens, not rankinii. Sempervirens has a strong aroma; rankinii does not - and I suspect that mij13 in San Diego also got rankinii, so that's why there's no fragrance - we also have one we put in the ground several y... read moreears ago, it's big and strong but also no aroma. The tag also doesn't reveal how toxic Gelsemiums are - alkaloids related to strychnine that can kill honeybees as well as people if eaten.

On Apr 6, 2010, eatmyplants from Comanche county, TX (Zone 8a) wrote:

Wow, someone actually gave their own state flower a negative.

On Mar 17, 2010, hwgang from Northfield, MA wrote:

I just acquired this beautiful plant from a nursery that is also unfamiliar with it. It's only in a 4" pot. It is fully in bloom and sending out new growth. I am in zone 5a so it must be a houseplant here. I don't see any comments regarding this as a houseplant. I would welcome advice.

Sorry, wrong plant. I have Jasminum mesnyi PRIMROSE jasmine, not "yellow".

On Nov 18, 2009, missfancy34667 from Hudson, FL wrote:

My Husband planted this plant in 2001 in front of our hot tub deck on the north side of our house. It had taken over the entire front of the the deck providing excellent privacy. However, It also blooms in the most extreme circumstances. Last year it bloomed in 16 degree temerpartures in february. Ive never seen such blooming in such adversity. the plant tends to move towards the east of the deck. < wish it would move towards the west more. LOL. > It is very profilfic. It has become so dense that it has became a place for the cats to lie in from the roof, and in the past the farm rats have been seen inside of it, fortunatelty for us the cats find it a wonderful place to hang out and get themselves a nice meal.

Currently though, I have noticed that where it was planted, was ... read moreon the part of the deck that had wood lattice. the rest of the deck had plastic lattice. so the wood lattice is breaking. So I want to cut the plant down and move it, so i can replace the rest of the deck with plastic lattice.. I do not wish to kill it, Just move it. I gather it seems to flourish in a north west sun exposure. but I am not sure how it will do if I hack the majority of it down just to free up the deck from damage and move it to a fence or tree area. Id love to hear some advice.

On the east side of the deck we have honey suckle that has grown beautifully and winds up into the doors and moves freely with the opening and closing of the lattice doors. on the west side of the deck is wisteria. and on the south side of the deck is fragrant passion vine which is a very extreme prolific vine. I find it all of a sudden is also groiwng up all over the yard in peculiar places, I have to dig it up and pot it and gift it to neighbors, it even entagles into the jasmine and covers the house. I find the passion vine to be the most hassling of all the vines I have, but it is a wild flower here. and it does produce fruit so at least it does something useful. LOL.

If anyone has anything useful for the hacking and moving of my massive jasmine, I would appreciatte to know, I really dont want to risk killing it. And to think it started out in a 6 inch pot 8 years ago, LOL and now is 10 feet tall very bushy and about 30 feet wide.

On Apr 4, 2009, DreamOfSpring from Charleston, SC (Zone 9a) wrote:

This is our state flower. It is a native and is very much at home here. In this area it is quite capable of growing and flowering beautifully without any human intervention. In fact, in early spring it lights up the forests all along the roadside.

I walked out of my back door a few weeks ago to find an area I call the Arbor Path positively aglow from the explosion of yellow Jessamine blooms there. Appearing as though someone had taken a highlighter marker to both sides of the path, it was an amazing thing to see and absolutely impossible to ignore. What is more incredible is that due to illness I had failed to weed, fertilize, or otherwise care for the area for years, yet this plant was still blooming in indescribable profusion.

Lastly, I must take exception... read more with the description of this plant growing to 20ft. Shortly after awakening to find my backyard awash in yellow Jessamine blooms, I noticed, while walking near a very old forest, that the top 10ft or so of many of the trees there, tall, mature pines and oaks, were colored bright yellow with yellow Jessamine blossoms. The trees were easily 60ft or more in height and yet the Jessamine had managed to climb to the top of many of them and bloom there. I reiterate that there were no blooms in the lower 3/4 of the trees. Only the top 10-20ft of the forest canopy was aglow with yellow Jessamine blooms, but they had apparently climbed many feet to get there. Regrettably this incredible sight was in an area where photography is absolutely not permitted; otherwise, I would surely have taken a photo to show you.

On Aug 22, 2008, rntx22 from Houston, TX (Zone 9a) wrote:

I have had this plant for years. It can get big like any vine can, but we did not have to do much to keep it under control. I would say it is one of the less aggressive growers than most vines and easy to control.

On Jun 13, 2008, tinabeana from Greenville, SC (Zone 8a) wrote:

This is my state flower, and I was lucky enough to buy a house that already had significant quantities of it. It is is a prolific climber/rambler, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your needs. Keep an eye on it and prune as needed, because it will overgrow surrounding shrubs. The flowers are divine, and personally I enjoy the color contrast between the stems and the leaves. In my yard it grows in full and part sun, and works as a groundcover if there's nothing for it to climb.

Most notably, this plant is a US native that is recommened as a suitable alternative for many non-native and/or invasive plants. Ironically, four of the invasives below came with my property

PlantWise: Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
Gelsemium sempervirens is a... read more PlantWise native alternative for:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata (Amur peppervine)
Hedera helix (English ivy)
Jasminum dichotomum (Gold Coast jasmine)
Jasminum fluminense (jazmin de trapo)
Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle)
Lygodium japonicum (Japanese climbing fern)
Vinca major (bigleaf periwinkle)
Vinca minor (common periwinkle)

On Mar 4, 2008, Korak from Jeffersonville, GA (Zone 8a) wrote:

Here in central Georgia, these vines have gone wild and grown high up into trees. (My property is a woodland thicket!) You rarely see the vines, but they do begin blooming early- and often the fallen blossoms cover the path! It took me a bit of effort to discover exactly what plant was garlanding my forest paths with golden flowers, because the vines were all hidden high in the treetops! Now I know and plan to use some as fence covers.

On Nov 27, 2006, happy_girl from Redondo Beach, CA (Zone 10b) wrote:

Got this from Logees and it's such a delicate little thing with small precious blooms. It seems to grow slow but from reading other posts, it will probably speed up in the springtime. I have it in a small container at the moment - it's only about 5" long. Fragrance is nice when you put your nose to the flowers.

On Apr 28, 2006, gooley from Hawthorne, FL (Zone 8b) wrote:

Native here. I have seen 2-inch trunks climbing up trees. In late winter you can smell the flowers and see the fallen yellow blooms even if the blooming bits are out of view way high up in the canopy. All parts are toxic but there isn't really much else wrong with it.

On Mar 13, 2006, frostweed from Josephine, Arlington, TX (Zone 8a) wrote:

Carolina Jamine is a beautiful Texas Native vine with evergreen foliage and lovely yellow scented blossoms in the early Spring.
Very easy to grow.

On Nov 17, 2005, phrostyphish from Tuscaloosa, AL wrote:

I've used this over the years as a cover for unsightly chainlink fencing.
We also have it trained on two mock fences in front of my office - we put in "corners" of vinyl fence in front of the house where I work, and planted the Carolina jasmine. In a few short years, it's overtaken them both and we have the vine pruned back so that it resembles a hedge on either side. In the spring, they're both laden with yellow flowers that attract both bees and positive comments from our clients.

The forsythia of the south? But... I thought forsythia was the forsythia of the south. We live in Alabama and forsythia is EVERYWHERE here.
Heck, I have a few shrubs here that I've transplanted to the lawn from the woods behind my house.

But I digress... this stuff is... read more great for covering fences, arbors, or anything else you can train it on when it's young. All I do is keep it cut back during the summer, after blooming stops. Shoot... I don't even water or fertilize it and it does just fine.

On Apr 2, 2005, JaxFlaGardener from Jacksonville, FL (Zone 8b) wrote:

I think of this flower as the forsythia of the south -- it is one of the first flowers to emerge in Spring and can be frequently seen in our area growing wild in the woods along roadways, often reaching the tops of trees.

I have three of the plants in various places on fences in my yard. They are spreading rapidly and I expect in a few years I will happily have the fences covered with their canary yellow, sweetly fragrant flowers.

On Oct 20, 2003, chrislyn from La Porte, TX (Zone 9a) wrote:

I have moved my Jasmine several times so I am not sure if I have caused its lack of performance but it is still hanging in. I moved it from its first home in the ground in Waco, Texas to a large pot in Baytown, Texas. It did well in the pot blooming and growing well. I then, moved again and took it to La Porte, Texas and planted it in the ground again. I have provided a trellis for it but it hasn't done as well here. A lot of the leaves look scorched and it is starting to bloom now...and seed. I think I am finding Jasmine seedlings at the base of it.

On Aug 14, 2003, Kaufmann from GOD's Green Earth,
United States (Zone 8b) wrote:

I have had two growing in pots for 4 years with little care. They are very satisfactory with evergreen foliage and lovely, aromatic yellow flowers in Spring.