Winter Jasmine
Jasminum nudiflorum
Winter Jasmine
Jasminum nudiflorum
How are the heights measured?
All tree, and nothin' but the tree! We measure from the top of the soil to the top of the tree; the height of the container or the root system is never included in our measurements.
What is a gallon container?
Nursery containers come in a variety of different sizes, and old-school nursery slang has stuck. While the industry-standard terminology is to call the sizes "Gallon Containers", that doesn't exactly translate to the traditional liquid "gallon" size we think of. You'll find we carry young 1-gallons, up to more mature 7-gallons ranging anywhere from 6 inches to 6ft.
How does the delivery process work?
All of our orders ship via FedEx Ground! Once your order is placed online, our magic elves get right to work picking, staging, boxing and shipping your trees. Orders typically ship out within 2 business days. You will receive email notifications along the way on the progress of your order, as well as tracking information to track your plants all the way to their new home!
Why are some states excluded from shipping?
The short & sweet answer is: "United States Department of Agriculture Restrictions." Every state has their own unique USDA restrictions on which plants they allow to come into their state. While we wish we could serve everyone, it's for the safety of native species and helps prevent the spread of invasive disease & pests. We've gotta protect good ole' Mother Nature, after all.
About Me
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Winter Jasmine is a classic garden shrub that is unique for blooming through the winter months, producing flushes of golden yellow blooms during every warm spell. It is often in bloom from November to February. It forms a trailing and arching shrub that will cover 10 to 15 feet in all directions, and it can be trained up a wall or trellis, or left as a sprawling ground cover. It is especially attractive spilling over retaining walls or cascading down slopes.
- Showy bright-yellow flowers through the winter months
- Blooms on the bare branches, with green summer leaves
- Excellent wall or trellis plant for winter interest
- Great ground cover or trailer over retaining walls
- Tough, reliable and easy to grow – a heritage plant
Full sun gives the most blooms on the Winter Jasmine, but it will grow happily in shade, even tolerating deep full shade. It grows in all well-drained soils, including heavy clays and urban soils. It is generally pest and disease free and very easy to care for. It’s drought resistant once established, and can be left to grow naturally or pruned in early spring to control the growth, especially when grown as a vine.
- Plant Hardiness Zones 6-10
- Mature Width 3-6
- Mature Height 10-15
- Sun Needs Full Sun, Partial Sun, Shade
Flowers that appear in winter – even the simplest – have a special charm. What are you doing here? How brave, to bloom on a cold winter’s day! Few plants bring us that sense of marvel at the endurance of life, as the Winter Jasmine does. The sparkling, bright yellow flowers may lack the scent of white jasmines, but they have a striking purity and charm that is sure to please. Originally from China, it perfectly captures the Eastern aesthetic of honest simplicity – Here I am! This is me! For the rest of the year it might be a quiet, green trailing plant, but the joy it brings in winter and just before spring begins is surely ample reason to grow this beauty in your garden. Versatile too, this trailing shrub can be grown up against your house, or on a garden trellis; spilling over a retaining wall; or sprawling freely as a groundcover in sun or shade. The fact that ‘winter’ and ‘jasmine’ sound like such an unlikely combination is all part of the charm.
Growing Winter Jasmine
Size and Appearance
Winter Jasmine is a sprawling deciduous shrub that grows to 10 or 15 feet tall if supported, or no more than 4 feet tall, and usually less, if left to grow across the ground. The young stems are smooth and green, with four flattened sides. Older stems are light beige-gray, with bumpy bark. Left alone this plant will form a dense, twiggy mound of stems, trailing on the ground or arching and spilling downwards. The leaves are small and divided into 3 leaflets on a short stalk. They are smooth and dark-green, with a slightly-glossy sheen. Each leaflet is between ½ and 1½ inches long, oval, with a smooth edge. The leaves turn yellow in fall, leaving the combination of green and beige stems exposed – they have a quiet beauty.
The flowers are carried singly on younger stems, anytime between November and February, opening in flushes during warm spells. In colder areas flowering may be concentrated in the last weeks of winter, before the first spring flowers appear. The flowers are large – a full inch across and 1-inch long, carried on a short stalk and sitting in a small, green, 5-pointed cup. The flowers are a long slim tube, topped by a flattened face of 5 rounded lobes. The color is a clear, bright yellow, sparkling bright in the golden winter sun and eye-catching from yards away. New leaves begin to unfurl as the last flowers are open.
Using Winter Jasmine in Your Garden
Winter Jasmine has two broad uses in our gardens. It is easily trained as a wall or trellis shrub, able to grow up to the second floor. It isn’t twining or self-supporting, so you do need to attach it or tie it in, spreading out the branches to cover the area you have in mind. Choose a wall that is sunny during winter, as this will encourage early flowering and give you the most flowers. It can also be tied up to a fence and then left to cover it. This plant is naturally a trailing and sprawling shrub, so if left to grow without support it makes a good ground cover, spreading out 10 feet or more in all directions, often rooting as it goes to cover an even larger area. It is perfect for covering slopes, and if you have retaining walls, plant it at the top and let it cascade downwards – a great solution to big blank spaces.
Hardiness
Winter Jasmine is hardy in all but the coldest areas, growing well in zone 6 and thriving in all the warmer parts of the country.
Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions
Full sun, especially in winter, will give the most blooms on your Winter Jasmine, but it is perfectly happy in partial shade too. It even grows in deeper full shade, but flowering will be reduced. This tough plant grows in almost any kind of soil, as long as it isn’t wet. From clays to sandy soils – everything is acceptable, but obviously the growth will be more vigorous and spreading if planted in richer soils. Established plants are tough and drought-resistant.
Maintenance and Pruning
Generally free of pests and diseases, you can let the Winter Jasmine get on with things by itself, with very little attention. When trained on a wall it is a good idea to do some pruning once blooming is over. Prune out some older branches and shorten back long new shoots to keep it neater and within the area you have for it. If, after some years, it becomes overgrown, you can cut it back to a foot or two and let it all start again.
History and Origin of Winter Jasmine
The Winter Jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, is native to China, growing all through the western areas, from Tibet to the mountainous province of Shaanxi. It was first brought to the West in 1844 by Robert Fortune. He was a Scottish botanist and explorer who collected many of our older ornamental plants during his years in China. Winter Jasmine was part of a group of plants he collected while employed by the Royal Horticultural Society. The name ’nudiflorum’ means ‘naked flower’, referring to the blooms on leafless stems. It has been a popular plant since then, and it’s one of the classic heritage garden plants we still grow, enjoyed for as many years as shrubs like Lilac and Forsythia.
Buying Winter Jasmine at the Tree Center
Winter is such a dull season that it’s really important to add as much color and interest as possible to it. The Winter Jasmine may be a classic, but its annual blooms are always fresh and attract every new generation of gardeners. It is not as widely available as it once was, so order now while we still have plants available – it may be a while before we have them again.