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Vibrant Winter Jasmines

Sujata Iyer
A winter jasmine plant is quite peculiar when compared to other members of its family. How so? Read this information to find out.
First things first, let us get one small confusion out of the way. The scientific name of the winter jasmine is Jasminum nudiflorum. However, it is noticed that the name 'winter jasmine' is also used for Jasminum polyanthum, in research. Here, the name winter jasmine is for Jasminum nudiflorum only.
The winter jasmine plant, like other jasmine plants, is a vine. It grows to a vertical height of 4 feet and a horizontal width of 7 feet, if not cut and pruned regularly. It has green foliage and bears bright yellow flowers. What makes this plant different from other jasmine plant varieties is that the flowers are not fragrant.
Almost all other jasmine plants have their fragrance as their ultimate USP. This is not the case with the winter jasmine. What attracts people to get this plant is the pretty yellow blossoms and the way this houseplant can make any area outside your home look vibrantly stunning!
Now, let us see some of the planting and growing requirements of this plant.

Soil

This plant grows well in most types of soil. The main ones that contribute to its good and healthy growth are light and well-drained soil. In addition to these types, the winter jasmine also grows well in acidic soil or clay.

Sunlight

Like most other plants in your flower garden, this plant too blossoms well in full and bright sunlight. However, being a very adaptive plant, it can also grow well in partial sun and even shade.

Foliage and Shape

This plant, since it is a vine, has a cascading effect. This gives it an appearance of an overflowing waterfall, brimming with pretty yellow flowers. The foliage is a pleasant shade of green. The stem or bark of the plant remains green even in winter, as opposed to most other plants, whose bark tends to turn a shade of gray or brown during winter.

Bloom Time

This plant bears its golden blossoms beginning in December and going all the way through March. So, you have a solid 4 months of gorgeous blooms. The only drawback is that the number of flowers reduces as the season progresses. But it looks stunning nonetheless.

Pruning

The best time to prune this plant would be somewhere around spring. The plant would have just exhausted its blooms a while ago.
Pruning before or much later after the flowering season can tend to damage the plant, because it uses the same growth for flowering the next year. You can prune away all the dead and dried branches and give the vine a new and fresh look and shape.

Uses

This plant is basically a landscaping plant. Since it is a vine, you can use it in a garden trellis that you may have.
If you do not want it hanging over a trellis, you can have it growing on a low wall around your garden. This way, it acts as a hedge plant too. You can also have it growing on the ground in your garden. It makes for a lovely golden ground cover that will attract bees and butterflies.
Knowing all this about the winter jasmine plant has got to have made you want to get one for your garden as well. So get to your nearest nursery and get some good cuttings.