How Hardy Is a Jasmine Vine?

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plant Hardiness Zones Map divides the country into 11 growing zones, according to the average minimum annual temperatures in each. Each zone's minimum temperature is 10 degrees warmer than that of the zone with the next lowest number. Zones assigned numbers 6 and below have subzero minimum temperatures. Zones 7 to 10 have winter temperatures ranging from zero to just below freezing. Zone 11, with an average minimum temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit, seldom experiences hard freezes. Individual zones are also subdivided into colder, or "a," and warmer, or "b," areas.

Pink Jasmine Vine

• A native Chinese plant, pink jasmine vine (Jasminum polyanthum) handles winters in USDA zones 8 through 11, and a minimum low temperature of 20 degrees Fahrenheit. This vigorous climber is capable of a height and width of 20 feet. Its twining stems have feathery, green foliage. In late winter or early spring, the vine's dainty, pink buds open into heavily fragrant, white blooms. Where winters remain above freezing, pink jasmine is evergreen. This drought-tolerant vine thrives in a sunny or partly sunny location and averagely draining, sandy or loamy soil.

Downy Jasmine Vine

• Downy jasmine vine (Jasminum multiflorum) grows as a vine or mounding shrub. It pairs oval, greenish-gray, down-covered foliage with star-shaped white flowers. Although less fragrant than many Jasmine plants, the nearly year-round blooms have a sweetly spicy scent. This Indian native jasmine survives winters to zone 9 and temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Downy jasmine reaches a mature height of 8 to 10 feet, with a 5- to 8-foot spread. It flourishes in full sun to partial and most well-drained soils.

Winter Jasmine Vine

• While winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) grows naturally as a shrub, it reaches 15 feet when trained as a vine. What the plant lacks in floral fragrance, it makes up for with cold tolerance. Hardy to zone 6, winter jasmine vine handles temperatures to 10 below zero. Its dark green, glossy compound leaves appear in late spring. The 1-inch, yellow funnel flowers preceding them announce winter's end, just like the forsythia blooms they so closely resemble. Native to Western China, this adaptable jasmine thrives even in poor soil. It flowers most abundantly in full sun.