Tuesday, June 28, 2011

My love affair with Jasmine

I received a Pink Jasmine last May from a neighbor who was moving, and that started a love affair for me,  that just keeps growing stronger. Luckily in San Diego, Jasmine can stay outdoors, and will thrive all year long. In some parts of the country, they would need to be wintered indoors.

First Pink Jasmine from neighbor in May of 2010
This plant wasn't in the best shape when I got it but I knew I could help her along, so I put her in a mostly shady spot, and gave her a bigger pot. My goal was to have a Jasmine scented living room in the Spring so I placed her under our living room windows.

It didn't take long for the Pink Jasmine to start going crazy. 
Pink Jasmine grows quickly but the blooms take an infuriatingly long time to develop and then to open.

Pink blossoms started to appear by the end of January
And finally opened towards the end of March, the smell is absolutely incredible
The bloom cycle didn't last as long as I would like, so I decided to put more, and different varieties of Jasmine in to try and prolong the amount of time I would be able to enjoy this scent in our garden, and in our living room.

An upright bush type of Jasmine above and a Madagascar vine type below. 

So far neither of these have shown any signs of blooming so I think we'll be waiting until next Spring before we smell the scent of Jasmine in the garden again. I did trim back the initial Pink Jasmine the other day and I played with trying to get some of the cuttings to root.

It's a good idea to serenade your cuttings with your totally awesome ghetto blaster  
I trimmed down some of the cuttings to about 10 inches long and dipped the ends with a leaf or two freshly plucked off into some rooting hormone and then planted them. I used PVC as a support because it's what I had handy.

If this takes then I'll do more of them. 
Jasmine is a beautiful plant even when not in bloom but while they are in their glory, they are simply intoxicating. This is a great plant to grow in San Diego. 

Gidget explores behind the wall of Jasmine and our crazy Pink Begonia

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