Jasmine

Name: Jasmine
Scientific Name: Jasminum
Family: Oleaceae

Soil: Prefer acidic soil. I use Miracle Grow for Potting Plans. To preserve water, I also add some peat moss in the soil.
Sun: Jasmine usually likes sunlight in abundance, but in this section of country, too much sun might burn their leaves. So it is recommended to put it under some sort of place where it can be sheltered from the afternoon sun.
Water: Water often if left outdoor. Keep soil moist..
Fertilizer: Without much sun light and fertilizer, the jasmine doesn’t flower, just grown leaves. Therefore, it is important to feed it fertilizer for acid love plants. With the Acid Food for Azalea, Camellia, and Rhododendron, they are growing quite happily. I will also try a Dr. Q's Acid Food.
Care: Depending on the type of jasmine, they can be either hardy or fragile. Some of them can be grown easily outside in the sandy soil, while others needs special care. Details on each one of them are listed.
Tips: Beware not to water jasmine during hot time of days. The vaporized high mineral containing water can scorch the plan badly, turning its leaves thin and silver paper like. A lot of time jasmines are vertical clambers, try to control the growth either by pinching the young buds, or guiding the growth with some kind of support. The plant grows in spurts. Once in a while, it breaks a period of dormancy, new shoots can reach a couple of feet within weeks. Most jasmine varieties are easily propagated through cuttings. If you want to control the structure of the plant, simply cut off the tips of the new branches, leave them in a flower vase for a few days with ends submersed in water. Then take them out and put them in a pot with moist soil, new plants will soon grown from them.

Description:

For those who enjoys fragrant flowers, jasmine is must-have. While the individual flowers might not carry much fragrance individually, the number of flowers more than makes up for it. Most types of jasmine are either vines or shrubs, and can grown much bigger and produce more flowers when planted outside; however, almost all of them can be grown in the pots as well. Jasminum sambac is one that is usually grown in pots. Because most of them can’t handle cold winter very well, it is better to move them indoors during cold winter.

The common types of Jasmine are:

Arabian Jasmine (Jasminum sambac). Arabic jasmine does well indoors, though it thrives outside as well. Abundant light and the right soil conditions promote flower development. When moving from indoors to outdoors, be sure to give the plant some time to adjust to the sun light slowly, or its delicate leaves will be burned into a paper-like state. But because it is a tropical plant, it is best to move it indoors before temperature drops under 40 degree F. There are two main problems I have encountered. First, when the plant is overwatered, the flowers tend to open prematurely, with no actual flower petals. Once watering is cut back, normal flowers will start to form. Second, the leaves might turn yellow after flowering. This is due to a lack of iron and other minerals. I often just give it a few dose of diluted iron.

Grand Duke is easy to identify since its leaves are rounded and they grow in groups of three. Its flowers are large and are all mult-layers, with round petals and shaped like small white roses. It is best to keep this plant dry rather than wet, as overwatering can kill it.
Maid of Orleans has symmetric pointed leaves on both sides and a single flower with rounded petals. It needs to be trimmed once in a while because it can reach six or seven inches without pruning. If often gives more flowers at a time than the other varieties.
Belle of India has both pointed and rounded leaves arranged in pairs at alternate right angles. Its flowers are either double or single with elongated petals.
Other variety like Arabian Knights have petals like the Maid of Orleans, but with double flowers. There are several main varieties of Arabian Jasmine: Maid of Orleans, Belle of India and Grand Duke.

Angelwing Jasmin (Jasminum nitidum). This type of Jasmine is more hardy than Arabian Jasmine. It can survive in subzero Celsius degree (about 25 degree F) without much damage. It can also tolerate full sun to partial shade. With its glassy evergreen leaves and huge (2-3 inches) white star like flowers, it can either trim into a nice shrub or lead into a nice climbing vein.

French Perfume Jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum). The plant is semi-evergreen. In cold days, its leaves tend to fall off, but grown right back in spring. It grows pretty fast and gives out an abundant showing five petals white fragrant flowers with pink buds in spring. It is also referred as Winter Jasmine for its hardiness (about 15 degree F). In order to protect it from the harsh southwestern sun when planted outdoors, it is best to put in next to a wall that offers both protection and support.