Jasminum officinale 'Inverleith' Photo: Paul Bonine
This surprisingly hardy vine thrives in gardens west of the Cascades offering intoxicating fragrance and a resilient demeanor.
Well-loved throughout the world for its heady fragrance and graceful manner, Jasminum is a broad genus of more than 30 species of shrubs and vines in the olive family. This large family of plants is native to the warmer regions of old world Europe, as well as Africa, Australasia, andSoutheast Asia where it has been cultivated for thousands of years.
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Flirting with Florist Jasmine
Florist jasmine (J. polyanthum) or—more appropriately—Chinese jasmine, is only half-hardy in thePacific Northwest. Tempted by prodigious sweetly scented flowers, many gardeners purchase the plant, commonly available in early spring at garden centers and nurseries, only to have it fail when temperatures drop below 20ºF. Chinese jasmine blooms on mature wood. Plants that repeatedly die to the ground make a tepid and disappointing comeback the following season only to freeze again the following winter. Gardeners disenchanted with this habit hav...
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Voices of the West; New Science on Life in the Garden by Frederique Lavoipierre
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