Caption
Beautiful white flowers of Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) also know as Confederate jasmine.
Want a garden that smells like heaven? Meet star jasmine—the fast-growing, low-maintenance vine that wraps walls and trellises in lush green and bursts with fragrant white blooms. Here’s everything you need to know to plant, grow, and care for this intoxicating beauty.
Star jasmine is a woody, perennial, evergreen vining plant also known as Southern jasmine or Confederate jasmine. Although the common name is star jasmine, these plants are not actual jasmine. Their botanical name is Trachelospermum jasminoides, and they are similar in appearance but completely different plants from jasmine. Other plants, such as Asiatic jasmine (T. asiaticum), are also referred to occasionally as star jasmine, and actual jasmine plants (Jasminum officinale) can also be confused for this plant. Check the tag for the botanical name to ensure you buy the desired plant. While star jasmine is not considered invasive, several other similar plants are.
Star jasmine plants are drought-tolerant and quite deer-resistant, and they tolerate some salt exposure, making them a good fit in coastal locations. Once established, star jasmine is a rapid grower and will commonly grow 6 feet or more in a single growing season after its second year. They’re cold hardy in USDA Zones 8-11, although you may be able to grow them in protected areas in Zone 7.
These flowering vines bloom in late spring and will continue to rebloom at a slower pace throughout the summer. The delicate pinwheel-shaped blooms have five petals, a lovely fragrance, and attract hummingbirds and bees. Slightly glossy, evergreen foliage is thick on twining stems, making an excellent privacy planting that doubles as a fragrant flowering specimen.
Planting
When to Plant Star Jasmines
Star jasmines can be planted in spring or fall. Spring planting allows them to establish before the powerful summer sun arrives, and planting in fall lets them put out new roots and settle in before the winter season. Plant in spring after the last frosts have finished, and for fall, get them in the ground 4 weeks before your first freeze. Star jasmines can also be planted in summer but will require more frequent watering.
Where to Plant Star Jasmines
Star jasmines grow best in full to partial sun. They tolerate shade but will grow slower and flower less, and it’s that lush growth and those fragrant flowers that you want. They love the heat and will grow in virtually any well-draining soil.
These twining plants are best grown where they have something to climb so they can show off. An arbor, fence, deck railing, or trellis is perfect. Plant star jasmine on each side of an arch framing the entrance to your house to create a scented doorframe. Let them crawl over a pergola to make a shady spot to sit underneath. They’re not limited to lofty structures; star jasmine can also be used as sprawling low shrubs or ground cover.
Star jasmine can be grown in containers, and some northern gardeners treat it as an annual just to enjoy the fragrance. If planted in a pot, it will still need something to climb, and the container should be large enough to provide mass to keep the plant upright in the wind. For winter, a large planter and trellis could be wheeled and moved into a sunroom or other well-lit spot and returned outdoors in late spring.
How to Plant Star Jasmines
Most star jasmine plants come in small or medium pots, ready to transplant, and they often have a short wooden or wire frame to crawl up already in their pot. However, you’ll want to provide a larger climbing opportunity at transplant time.
- Prepare the area, removing sod, mulch, and weeds.
- Dig a shallow-sided hole slightly deeper than the root ball and 2 to 3 times as wide. Dig the hole deeper than needed and then backfill to ensure the bottom soil is loose and ready for new root growth.
- Remove the star jasmine from its nursery pot and prune any circling or girdling roots. Score the root ball with a trowel to stimulate new growth if it’s rootbound.
- Place the plant in the hole and check the planting depth. The top of the root ball should rest at or slightly above ground level. Avoid planting too deep and adjust as necessary by adding or removing soil.
- Fill the hole using the native soil you removed, tamping down lightly but firmly to minimize air pockets around the roots.
- When the hole is halfway refilled, water it. Keep adding soil and firming it with your hands, watering again when complete.
- Mulch around the shrub, about 2–3 inches thick. Don’t let the mulch touch the stems.
- If your star jasmine needs an arbor or trellis, install it at planting time. Digging or stabbing stakes into the soil after the roots have started to spread out can damage your plant.
Types
You aren’t likely to find many cultivars of star jasmine, but there are a few. Several other similar plants, like Asiatic jasmine, are also available.
- ‘Madison’ is more cold-hardy than other star jasmines, and a better bet for Zone 7 gardeners. It’s slightly more compact, with 10- to 12-foot-long vines, but still an excellent climber.
- The unadulterated species plant, Trachelospermum jasminoides, is commonly sold, and you can’t go wrong with it. Purchase healthy plants from a reputable vendor and enjoy their fragrant scent.
- ‘Variegatum’ is, as it sounds, a star jasmine with variegated leaves but the same flower power as its green-leafed kin. Leaf margins and edges are splotched with creamy white patches, providing more interest when the plant is not blooming.
Wit and Wisdom
- Star jasmine vines can get vigorous and heavy, and their thick foliage will catch storm winds. Make sure to anchor any vertical climbing structure well so they don’t tip over in a wind gust.
- Star jasmine is a great climber but won’t climb masonry walls by itself. You’ll need a lattice-like structure for it to attach itself.
- Star jasmine, like other perennials, follows a sleep-creep-leap growth pattern. The first year will see a few feet of growth, but by the third year, this perennial will begin maturing and may eventually have stems 20 to 30 feet long.
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