Arty's Garden: Winter Jasmine -- Sunny Flowers for Gloomy Days

Originally published in the Jan. 8, 2014, issue

 

When people ask me about the “forsythia that blooms in the winter,” I know they are usually referring to winter jasmine.

 

Like forsythia, winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) produces lemon-yellow flowers on bare stems. However, winter jasmine can begin blooming in December. Its dark green stems and mounding, almost weeping, habit are also distinguishing features. In fact, this mounding habit makes winter jasmine a perfect choice for a steep bank that is difficult to mow.

 

Another good way to use winter jasmine is to plant it at the top of a retaining wall and let it cascade over or plant it next to a chain-link fence where it can grow up and drape over the fence. In northern climes, gardeners train winter jasmine against sunny walls to provide extra warmth and earlier blooms. While there is no need for that here, it could be an attractive choice for espaliering against a wall. Those who have only seen winter jasmine in the landscape may be surprised to find it is a popular subject for bonsai, readily trained into picturesque shapes and beautiful in flower.

 

I am obligated to mention that winter jasmine is durable, withstands poor soils and heavy clay, has no serious pest problems, thrives in sun or shade – although flowering is reduced in shade – and is drought-tolerant, but what I really want to discuss are those flowers that will brighten the darkest winter day. All winter jasmine needs is a little warmth in winter and it will begin flowering. If there is a cold spell, it will put on the brakes and begin again as soon as it is over. This on-again, off-again manner of flowering means that although winter jasmine blooms over a longer period than forsythia, it does not usually create the grand yellow spectacle that forsythia does in the spring. That is a small matter. One winter jasmine flower in early January is worth 10 forsythia blooms in late March.

 

Lastly, winter jasmine is indeed a true species of jasmine but, unlike many of its cousins, it has no fragrance. Hey, we can’t have everything.

 

Arty Schronce is the Department’s resident gardening expert. He’s a lifelong gardener and a horticulture graduate of North Carolina State University who encourages everyone to discover the pleasures of plants and gardening.