Describe a Jasmine Plant

Common White Jasmine

• Common white jasmine (Jasminum officinale) is also referred to as Poet's jasmine and grows to a height of 10 to 15 feet. It demonstrates a medium rate of growth, accumulating between 13 and 24 inches annually. When grown as a vine, the branches must be supported, with cultivation as a shrub requiring extensive pruning. The vine produces fragrant, white flowers, approximately 1 inch in width. Common white jasmine prefers full sunshine with a mix of partial shade.

Confederate Jasmine

• Although its name states otherwise, Confederate jasmine is not a true jasmine at all; instead, it is a member of the Trachelospermum genus, a family distinctly different from the jasmine. Still, it is commonly referred to as a jasmine and widely planted and enjoyed due to its vibrant flowers and strong fragrance. The vine reaches up to 20 feet in length and sports dark green leaves nearly 3 inches long, with white flowers that clump together.

Winter Jasmine

• Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is a viney shrub that drops its leaves in the fall and grows to approximately 7 feet wide and around 4 feet high, even without support. With a trellis, it may stretch between 15 and 20 feet in height. It produces yellow flowers about 1 inch wide that emit no fragrance. The flowers may begin to appear in late winter or early spring, even before the green leaves begin to develop.

Other Jasmine

• Showy jasmine (Jasminum floridum) grows similar to winter jasmine, producing yellow flowers that bloom in spring and early summer. South African jasmine bears unscented white flowers in the summer, Italian jasmine produces fragrant-rich yellow flowers throughout the summer, Spanish jasmine bears scented white flowers a little over 1 inch in width and Primrose jasmine blooms yellow, unscented flowers that grow as wide as 2 inches. Downy jasmine offers white flowers with a slight fragrance.