Ask the Master Gardeners
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- November
- 14
Ask the master gardeners
Q: What is hardy jasmine?
A: Hardy jasmine (Jasminium officinale) is a vigorous deciduous vine with small white flowers that can be grown to in USDA Zone 7 and even 6 in a sheltered spot. It will survive in temperatures to 0 degrees unless the temperature remains at that point for a long time.
On the other hand, hardy jasmine requires a period of cold in order to bloom. It needs cold nights, so growing it in a greenhouse is not an option. Growing it near an entryway is ideal because it provides a sheltered spot and will also allow the grower to appreciate its lovely scent from spring to fall.
Winter jasmine (Jasminium nudiflorum) is a deciduous to semideciduous shrub, very reminiscent of forsythia, with gold flowers along dark green shoots. It grows in Zones 4 and up.
It can reach a height and breadth of 3 to 10 feet and tolerates drought and less than ideal soil. It also can be pruned to the ground and will come back, often better than ever. The winter-blooming flowers have no scent but add color to an otherwise bleak landscape.
Judie Phillips, New Rochell, master gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 14th, 2008 at 2:34 pm by Bill Cary.
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Bill Cary grew up in Louisville, Ky. His gardening was limited to growing parsley and impatiens on the windowsill of Manhattan walkups until the mid-1990s when he bought a rundown old chicken farm on 8 acres in the Hudson Valley. Now he spends his weekends chasing deer, hacking away at invasive shrubs and vines and wondering why he doesn`t have more meadow and less lawn.
