Shrub · Oleaceae
Common Jasmine
Jasminum officinale
Give it sun, warmth, and a sturdy support, and common jasmine fills the summer air with scent.
Full sun
Every 5–10 days
USDA 7–10
20–40 ft · 6.1–12.2 m
Overview
Common jasmine is a fast, twining shrub that earns its keep with the sweet white flowers it pumps out from summer into fall. A member of the olive family, it climbs hard once it settles in and shoots well past head height where the winters stay mild. Train it up a wall or trellis and it turns a plain frame into a draping curtain of fragrant bloom.
This is the genuine article, the jasmine whose scent perfumers and tea makers chase, and you'll want to keep it clear of the toxic plants that copy its name. Out in the garden it thrives across zones 7 to 10, and where the cold bites harder it makes a great container plant you can bring indoors for winter. Either way, it wants bright light and something to scramble up.
It rewards a little patience far more than constant fussing. Keep the moisture steady through the growing season, time your pruning right, and feed it across spring and summer, and it pays you back with months of evening fragrance. Deny it a support or shortchange its light, though, and you end up with a tangle of leaves and barely a flower.
Care
The short version: full sun to part shade with something to climb, soil kept moist through the growing season, a monthly feed in spring and summer, and pruning done right after the flowers fade.
Light
Common jasmine flowers hardest in full sun, though it copes with partial shade and ticks along on bright indirect light indoors. More direct light means more bloom, so hand it the sunniest spot you've got.
Water
Keep that soil moist through the growing season, watering every 5 to 10 days as the top dries out. Settled plants brush off a touch of drought, but steady moisture brings the best flowering. Dial it back through the winter rest from October to March.
Soil
Set it into moist, fertile, well-drained loam with plenty of organic matter dug in. It stays easygoing about acidity, happy with a pH anywhere from 6.0 to 7.5.
Temperature
It takes a wide swing, from a hard 5°F (-15°C) at the cold end clear up to 100°F (38°C) in summer heat. That cold tolerance is exactly what lets it grow outdoors through zones 7 to 10.
Humidity
Outdoors it shrugs off the air around it, but indoors it craves high humidity, ideally 50% or more. Dry household air is what calls in spider mites, so a humid corner keeps the plant thriving.
Feeding
Feed it monthly through spring and summer with a balanced liquid fertilizer. Switch to one richer in phosphorus when you want to drive more flowers, then stop feeding once growth winds down for winter.
Pruning
Prune right after flowering, never before, since jasmine blooms on old wood and an early cut carries off the buds with it. It takes hard pruning in stride, so cut it back firmly to keep its size and shape in check. Indoor plants need that hard cut plus a trellis to climb.
Repotting
For container plants, move them up every 1 to 2 years in spring. Watch for roots circling the pot or poking out the drainage holes, water rushing straight through, and growth slowing down, all signs it's hungry for a bigger home.
Size & spacing
Given room and a little time, it climbs 20 to 40 feet (6 to 12 m) tall and stretches 7 to 15 feet (2.1 to 4.6 m) wide. Build in a strong support and real space, because this is a vigorous climber, not a tidy little shrub.
When to plant
Common jasmine lives for the warm half of the year. Set young plants out in spring once the last frost has cleared, let them climb and bulk up through the warm months, and the fragrant flowers roll in from summer into fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring, after the last frost
- Harvest: summer into fall
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 7–10
Temperature: down to -18°C
Troubleshooting
Most jasmine snags come down to a pest moving in or a plant that simply won't flower. Both reveal themselves plainly once you know the tells, and both bounce back with the right move. Match what you spot below, then act before it sets the plant back.
Tacky shoot tips and twisting young growth swarming with soft little insects
Those sticky tips mean aphids or mealybugs are feeding on the sap, gathering on the softest growth and dribbling honeydew that pulls in sooty mold. Knock a light run off with a hard jet of water, then coat whatever clings on with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil. Mealybugs tuck into the leaf joints, so reach them with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, and a weekly repeat clears the lot.
Fix:
- Spray off light infestations with a strong stream of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or horticultural oil to coat the pests
- Dab mealybugs with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol
- Repeat treatment weekly until controlled
Yellow-flecked leaves trailing fine webbing or studded with waxy bumps
Warm, dry indoor air rolls out the welcome mat for spider mites, while scale and whitefly turn up as crusty lumps or little drifting clouds of fliers. Bump up the humidity and rinse the leaves to set the mites back, then go after the leaf undersides with horticultural oil or insecticidal soap. An alcohol-dipped swab lifts scale right off, and a few repeat rounds wrap it up.
Fix:
- Raise humidity and rinse foliage to discourage spider mites
- Apply horticultural oil or insecticidal soap, coating leaf undersides
- Scrape or wipe off scale with alcohol-dipped swabs
- Repeat applications as directed until pests are gone
Plenty of leaves, hardly a bloom to show for it
Healthy foliage with no flowers usually traces back to too little light, badly timed pruning, or too much nitrogen. Jasmine sets its buds on old wood, so cutting before it blooms shears away the exact growth that carries them. Shift it to a brighter, warmer spot, hold off on pruning until the flowers fade, and swing over to a phosphorus-rich feed to coax the blooms out.
Fix:
- Move the plant to a brighter, warmer location with plenty of direct light
- Prune only after flowering to preserve old growth that carries blooms
- Switch to a fertilizer higher in phosphorus and lower in nitrogen
Toxicity
Here's the welcome news: true jasmine is safe. The ASPCA lists Jasminum species as non-toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, so you can plant it freely where pets and children roam. The one genuine catch is identity, since toxic look-alikes like Carolina jessamine borrow the jasmine name, so confirm the botanical name before you buy.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
The ASPCA puts true jasmine on its safe list, so a curious cat that chews a leaf or swats at the flowers has nothing to worry about.
Dogs None
A dog can push past the vine or gnaw a stray shoot and come away completely fine, since no part of true jasmine is poisonous to them.
Horses None
Horses take no harm from this plant. The ASPCA gives true jasmine the green light for them right alongside cats and dogs.
Rabbits Safe
Let a rabbit nibble the foliage and it faces no toxic risk from true jasmine, though rich greens always go down best in moderation.
Livestock Safe
Grazers like goats, sheep, and cattle that reach the vine will not be poisoned by true jasmine.
Birds Safe
Birds run no chemical risk here, whether they perch among the climbing stems or peck at the blooms.
People Safe
Nothing here is toxic to people. The fragrant flowers even go into scenting tea, so a household with children can stay relaxed around it.
Safe around pets and children. Be sure the plant is a true Jasminum and not a toxic look-alike such as Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), which is highly poisonous.
Varieties
Common jasmine shows up in a few named forms, and several of its relatives get sold under the jasmine banner as well. These are the ones worth telling apart.
'Affine' (also sold as 'Grandiflorum')
Look for larger flowers that often flush pink in bud, plus a fragrance that comes on especially strong.
'Fiona Sunrise' ('Frojas')
Its golden-chartreuse leaves play off the fragrant white flowers and read far brighter than the plain species.
'Inverleith'
Both buds and open flowers run strongly flushed with red, packing in more color than the white-flowered forms.
Jasminum sambac (Arabian jasmine)
This tender cousin sports rounded leaves and supplies the flowers for jasmine tea, but it won't take the cold.
Jasminum nudiflorum (winter jasmine)
It throws yellow flowers on bare green stems in late winter, though it brings no scent to the show.
Jasminum polyanthum (pink jasmine)
A go-to houseplant jasmine whose pink buds burst open into very fragrant white flowers.
How to propagate
Common jasmine multiplies with ease, whether you root a summer cutting or peg a low stem against the soil and let it root all on its own.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Summer, from semi-ripe current-season growth · 4-8 weeks to root
Snip semi-ripe cuttings from this season's growth in summer, dip the cut ends in rooting hormone, and hold them warm and humid. Roots push out in roughly 4 to 8 weeks, though it does take a steady hand to carry them through.
LayeringEasy
Spring to summer · A few months to one season
Layering is the easy win. Pin a low, bendy stem against the soil in spring or summer so it roots while the parent still feeds it, then cut it loose once it has gripped on, usually within a few months to a full season.
Myths
Any plant called jasmine is the same safe, fragrant true jasmine.
Only Jasminum species count as true jasmine, and a handful of toxic plants ride on the name. Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is poisonous in every part, while star or Confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum) and night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum) are entirely different plants. Check the botanical name before you trust that a jasmine is harmless.
Jasmine flowers are poisonous and should be kept away from pets.
That worry springs from mixing it up with its toxic look-alikes. True jasmine, including Jasminum officinale, sits on the ASPCA's non-toxic list for cats, dogs, and horses, which makes it a safe pick around animals.