The Star Jasmine: A beautiful, dexterous garden plant
ALTHOUGH the “Star Jasmine” with its beautiful star-shaped flowers can be grown in a pot, it is also an excellent plant for making a hedge, or for covering part of a wall that looks unsightly. It can also be used in a pot with smaller plants, or as an evergreen groundcover under tall trees; and it can be trimmed to ensure that it remains a shrub.
This beautiful, evergreen plant, prized for its star-shaped white flowers, belongs to the species Trachelospermum (tray-key-low-SPER-mum) jasminoides (Jaz-min-OY-deez), and is of the dogbane family or Apocynaceae.
The term “Star Jasmine” is actually a scientific name that pays tribute to the ‘true jasmine’, which does not include this plant, the flowers of which have only certain striking similarities with the jasmine plant.
First grown in China, this plant is a favourite grow in North American and European gardens, where for many years it has been grown as a popular landscape plant. Star Jasmine can be grown in a variety of soils. It can handle clayey, acidic, sandy, loamy, and alkaline soil types.
Moreover, it thrives as well in full sunlight as it does in part shade, as far as its lighting needs are concerned. So there are many places in the yard it can be grown. It is moderately drought-tolerant after it has been well established, but naturally prefers moderate moisture.
In cultivating this plant, the gardener needs to plant the shoots spaced from 36 to 60 inches apart. The plant is drought-tolerant and is suitable for “xeriscaping”, a method of gardening that involves choosing plants that are appropriate to their sites, and for creating a landscape that can be maintained with little supplemental watering.
The Star Jasmine is available at the # 1 Plant Shop (Tel: 227-8094) at prices ranging from $600 upwards.