March's Flower of the Month

Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)

The buttery yellow flowers of Carolina jasmine brighten the early spring landscape and offer a delicate fragrance worth stopping to savor. Down the street from my home, it blooms on a chain-link fence. Such placement brings the flowers down to eye level and allows it to be easily pruned. That should be a hint as to appropriate placement of this vigorous vine. It scrambles to the top of whatever support is available and blooms mostly on the top.  

Look for Carolina jessamine as you travel along our highways. Throughout the South this native vine with its bright yellow flowers shines from the tops of trees, shrubs, and fences like strings of Christmas lights. In landscapes, sweetly scented flowers cover the vines in early spring. The trumpet-shaped blooms are about one inch long and are attractive to butterflies. Expect Carolina jessamine to grow about 20 feet tall or more.

Carolina jessamine grows very easily in our area. Use it on an arbor where the slender branches covered with yellow flowers can be easily seen. This plant will stay in scale and can be used on decks and porches and near patios and entryways. It is good in containers and as a ground cover along steep banks to help control erosion.

Culture

Purchase Carolina jessamine plants in containers and plant any time, but preferably during the cool weather. Select a site in full sun for most prolific foliage growth and best flowering. Space plants 4 to 8 feet apart to cover a fence or trellis. Almost any soil will do, but the preference is for rich, well-drained, moist soil. Established plants are quite drought tolerant.

Fertilize while the plant is actively growing with moderate amounts of a balanced fertilizer. Do not overfeed, since excessive fertilizer can reduce flowering. Prune old vines that become top heavy or sparse as soon as possible after flowering. Plants can be pruned back to a few feet above the ground with no ill effects.

Beware, however, for it is one of our poisonous plants. The sap may cause skin irritation in sensitive individuals. Bees have been accused of making toxic honey, cows have been killed by eating the green vines, and children have been made ill by sipping nectar from its blossoms.

Armed with this knowledge, you may find a suitable place for Carolina jessamine in your landscape. Evergreen foliage, twining vines that can mask a chain-link fence or other structure, tolerance of our heat, humidity, salt spray, and poor soil are sound reasons why it is an excellent choice.

 Click here for a complete list of plants in the archives.