There are more than 200 species of flowering shrubs and woody climbing vines in the Jasminum genus. They are prized for their fragrant blossoms, which yield a sweet scent used for perfume and flavoring used in ice cream, chewing gum and other food. Flowers of some jasmine plant varieties are edible. Dried flowers are used make a tea.
While not all jasmine fills the air with a signature floral perfume, many of these vines are showy climbers characterized by tubular, lobed flowers that attract both winged and human visitors to the garden. The climbing vines can need support to climb and can cascade from hanging baskets or grow up trellises, screens or walls.
This evergreen perennial produces stems that are up to 20 to 30 feet long if not trimmed. Vines grow quickly, and they are resistant to pests and disease. Naturally, jasmine grows in ravines, valleys, thickets and meadows and along rivers. In home garden and landscape, they are commonly used to cover pergolas, fences and walls, to form hedges and in pots for terraces, patios and balconies.
The pink or white blossoms of the jasmine vine plant grow from May through fall. Hummingbirds and butterflies, as well as other pollinators, are attracted to the pollen. Planting the vine in an ideal spot helps it thrive and reduces its maintenance needs.
Varieties of Jasmine Flowers
1. White Jasmine
White jasmine (Jasminum officinale), also known as common jasmine, poet’s jasmine, is extremely fragrant and perfumes outdoor walkways and gardens. White jasmine blooms from spring until fall and goes into a rest period in October, continuing through March. A mature white jasmine grows 20 to 30 feet with a 7- to 15-foot spread.
These deciduous to semi-evergeen shrubs produce small, white or pink fragrant flowers about 1 inch across with green leaves that have 5 to 9 leaflets, each one about 2 1/2 inches long. White jasmine has a sprawling or trailing growth habit.
In northern climates, common jasmine is sometimes grown in pots and brought indoors for the winter. Its edible fragrant white flowers yield a sweet scent used for perfume and flavoring used in ice cream, chewing gum and other food. Dried flowers are used make a tea.
2. Showy Jasmine
Also known as French perfume, pink jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum) is a sprawling semi-evergreen plant grown for its clusters of extraordinarily fragrant blooms, which appear from pretty pink buds. The flowers are white and shaped like stars. Pink jasmine grows quickly, requiring moderate maintenance and care to look healthy and tidy. Pink jasmine can produce black fruit, but does so very rarely.
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3. Italian Jasmine
Italian jasmine ( Jasminum humile), also referred to as Yellow jasmine is a highly branched climbing shrub that reaches 4 meters in height and 3 meters in width. They have glossy dark green evergreen leaves, alternate arrangement and divided into odd-numbered leaflets. The attractive, fragrant flowers are star-shaped and dark yellow in color. They bloom from late spring to mid-summer.
4. Primrose Jasmine
Primrose Jasmine (Jasminum mesnyi), also referred to as Japanese jasmine or Chinese Jasmine is open growing evergreen shrub, it produces long slender arching stems that will climb like a vine if supported. If it’s grown without support it grows in a fountain-like mound about 3mtrs high and wide. It has fragrant trumpet shaped flowers over glossy dark green leaves. Flowers appear in early spring but occasionally in the summer. Primrose jasmine is very similar to winter jasmine but is less hardy.
5. Spanish Jasmine
The fast-growing evergreen Spanish Jasmine (Jasminum grandiflorum ), also commonly called royal jasmine, can climb to 15 feet high, quickly covering fences and trellises with dark green foliage. It yields edible white tube-shaped flowers about three-quarters to 1 inch wide, of varying lengths, from mid-summer through mid-fall. It is excellent for covering fences and trellises or for training around topiary forms. This is a fast-growing evergreen form that can quickly cover a small structure.
6. Winter Jasmine
Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is not a true climbing plant, but it does tend to scramble over structures and hold itself up with the assistance of other plants or support structures. The glossy green leaves are deciduous and attached to deeply green stems. The leaves are small, opposite and trifoliate. They produce unscented yellow flowers 2 cm wide that sprout before the leaves. They bloom from late winter to early spring.
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7. Forest Jasmine
Jasminum abyssinicum is a strong to slender woody climber in high-altitude montane forests, climbing into the forest canopy which stems that can be robust up to 13 cm in diameter. The leaves are opposite, trifoliolate; leaflets are broadly ovate with a distinct driptip, dark glossy green above, hairless except for pockets of hairs in the axils of the leaves.
The flowers are produced at the ends twigs or in axils of leaves. The flowers are white, tinged with pink on the outside, sweetly scented with a corolla with 5 or sometimes 6 elliptic lobes. The fruits are fleshy, glossy black.
8. Lemon-scented Jasmine
Jasminum azoricum or Lemon Scented Jasmine is a lovely, evergreen climber with rich green leaves and fragrant white star-shaped flowers that appear in panicles from the leaf axils in summer, evolving from deep pink buds. A lovely controllable climber can also be kept as a shrub if pruned. Jasminum azoricum provides perfect coverage for fences pergolas arches and walls. It is also used in large pots for terraces and patios.
9. Downy Jasmine
Downy jasmine (Jasminum pubescens) is a freely spreading shrub with downy cordate leaves and clusters of intensely sweet scented white star-like flowers at tips and along the stems. It is an evergreen, branching vine that can be trained as a shrub, or as a spreading, vine-like shrub.
The stems and leaves are covered with a downy pubescence that gives the plant an overall grayish-green appearance. The leaves are ovate and rounded at the base, up to 2″ long, and opposite each other on the stem. The white, clustered, star-shaped flowers appear nearly year-round.
10. Arabian Jasmine
Arabian jasmine (Jasminum sambac), sometimes known as Sampaguita or Asian jasmine, is an evergreen vine that twists and twines over any available support, growing from 6 to 10 feet high and just as wide. It has a vine-like, climbing nature but is still fairly thick and shrubby.The typical sweet jasmine scent is produced by pure white, star-shaped flowers that each are approximately 1.5-inch wide and blooms for 24 hours. Jasmine tea is made from the flowers of this species.
In landscape use, it is usually planted in containers that can be brought indoors in cool weather. This is the national flower of both the Philippines and Indonesia.
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11. Dwarf Jasmine
Dwarf jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum), also known as Asiatic jasmine grows as a mound of slender spreading stems in a range of soil conditions, though it prefers well-drained areas. It has small, dark green, leathery leaves with brownish-red vines.
The vines slowly extend across the ground and create a dense, tangled blanket. The leaves grow in opposite pairs and are between 1-2 inches in length.The plant will grow to at least 3 feet wide and between 6 and 18 inches tall. Asiatic jasmine has small pinwheel-shaped yellow flowers
Dwarf Jasmine is a low maintenance groundcover that is great for mass plantings and turfgrass alternatives. It’s an ideal plant for people who want an attractive garden without all the hard work. In shady areas, it also provides needed texture and variation.
12. Angelwing Jasmine
Angel wing Jasmine (Jasminum nitidu), also referred to as shining Jasmine or windmill jasmine are fast-growing evergreen shrubs that reach 2 meters in height. They have shiny leathery, dark green leaves. Its smooth- glossy leaves are not pinnate but have a tapered entire shape.
The scented white flowers are star-shaped. They bloom in spring and summer. They are used as isolated specimens, in bushy groups and as climbing plants (they need supports) to cover walls and fences. They are ideal for coastal gardens due to their resistance to salinity.
13. South African Jasmine
The evergreen South African jasmine (Jasminum angulare), also referred to as wild jasmine can grow 15 to 20 feet long and 8 feet wide if it is given enough support. It can be grown both as a climbing vine and a ground cover. It yields clusters of 3 to 7 star-shaped flowers about one-quarter inch wide that look good in arrangements.
Grow Jasminum angulare in sun or semi-shade. It performs best in fertile, loamy, well composted soil. They can be slow to get going, but are strong growers when established. It is drought tolerant, but performs better with at least moderate watering during spring and summer. It can withstand a few degrees below freezing, but is best in frost-free regions.
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14. Gold Coast Jasmine
Jasminium dichotomum, the Gold Coast jasmine is an evergreen climber which grows as a rambling shrub or woody vine. The flowers are quite fragrant and open at night, colored pink when budding then white; these appear at the leaf axils in cluster. It blooms year round. The leaves are opposite. The fleshy fruit is small. Its vining habit can be trimmed in a dense shrub. Glossy leaves are very ornamental in contrast with dark pink buds and snow white flowers.
Gold Cost Jasmine is native to tropical western and central Africa from Senegal to Kenya and Ethiopia to South of Mozambique and Zambia, though it has been introduced to other regions and is reportedly naturalized in Florida and India.
False Varieties of Jasmine
1. Star Jasmine
Star jasmine vines (Trachelospermum jasminoides) also referred to as Confederate jasmine are not true jasmine plants, but they do look similar. The evergreen foliage is dark green and glossy, and it bears fragrant white flowers during the spring and summer. The vines grow quickly, and work well on a trellis, arbor, fence or as ground cover. Star jasmine requires partial to full sun and warm weather and is easy to care for and grows quickly with minimal maintenance and fertilization.
2. Night-blooming Jasmine
Commonly known as night-blooming jasmine, night-blooming jessamine, or lady-of-the-night (Cestrum nocturnum), it is not a true jasmine, at all, but is a jessamine plant of which are members of the nightshade (Solanaceae) family along with tomatoes and peppers.
The night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) is aptly named because its white-yellow, tubular flowers bloom at night; the flowers close during the day. It is known for its scent and is quite possibly the strongest scented plant in the world. When in bloom, the flowers release a scent of sweet perfume that pervades the area within 300-500 ft of the plant.
Night-blooming jasmine grows 8-10 feet (2.5-3 m.) tall and 3 feet (91.5 cm.) wide. Its evergreen nature and tall but columnar growth habit make night-blooming jasmine an excellent candidate for privacy hedges and screens. It bears clusters of small, white-green flowers from spring through late summer. When the flowers fade, white berries form and attract a variety of birds to the garden
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3. Cape Jasmine
A native of Asia, Cape jasmine (Gardenia jasminoides), also called common gardenia, is prized mainly for its ability to perfume the entire yard. Cape jasmine may be used as a groundcover, espalier, hedge, specimen, bonsai or container plant.
Gardenias are evergreens with lustrous, dark green foliage. The leaves range from 2 to 4 inches long and serve as a lush background to the large, white flowers the plant produces in spring and summer. Gardenia’s highly fragrant, waxy blooms may be up to 4 inches in diameter. Flowers may be single or double, depending on the cultivar.
Cape jasmine plants grow 2 to 6 feet tall and wide, depending on the variety. The dwarf cultivar Prostrata, a trailing form of Cape jasmine, grows only 6 inches to 3 feet tall and spreads up to 6 feet, while Mystery can grow more than 8 feet tall and wide.
4. Day-blooming Jasmine
White Cestrum or Day Blooming Jasmine (Cestrum diurnum), is an upright to rounded, naturally evergreen shrub with glossy ovate foliage. Well established plants can be can be grown as a root hardy, die-back perennial in the colder portions of its range or it can be easily maintained as a medium to large container plant where it is protected from freezing temperatures. The day-fragrant flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators.
Further References
- Facts About Jasmine: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasmine
- Jamine Plant Care: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/jasmine/growing-jasmine-plants.htm
- Varieties of Jasmine: https://worstroom.com/types-of-jasmine-flowers/
- Types of Jasmine Shrub: https://www.gardeningchores.com/types-of-jasmine-flowers/