Winter jasmine brings joy to the garden even before snowdrops and crocuses. The shrub, which originates from north-western China, also offers unimagined design possibilities thanks to its diverse growth traits.
The winter jasmine is - as the name suggests - very hardy
Table of Contents
Show all- Tip:
- sorts
- Long, square, sparse branches
- First green shoots, then quickly woody and turning brown
- Slower at first, then faster, somewhat sprawling growth
- Twigs capable of rooting: therefore also suitable as ground cover
- Spreader climber, therefore can also be used for wall greening with a climbing aid
- Yellow, solitary
- 5 to 6 numbers
- no scent
- With mild temperatures, the flowering period can begin as early as the end of December
- May persist into April
- Possible freezing in severe frost
- Winter jasmine very frugal in terms of location
- Tolerates extreme heat and exposure to sunlight, frost and strong winds
- Light: sunny to semi-shady
- Soil: rather rich in nutrients, chalky, moist and permeable
- But it also grows in poor soil
- Winter jasmine usually does not need fertilization
- If necessary, fertilize with some compost or potassium-oriented liquid fertilizer, especially in pot culture
- Winter jasmine generally very tolerant of pruning
- Sparse growth requires regular pruning
- Older, neglected specimens can be pruned radically without any problem
- Make regular topiary in the spring after flowering
- When cultivated as a ground cover, quite close pruning is necessary
origin
In contrast to some ornamental plants commonly called 'jasmine', the winter jasmine is a real jasmine - it actually belongs to the genus Jasminum. Its species has the suffix nudiflorum, which is literally translated in one of its German names as "Naked Jasmine".
Its native range is the rocky highlands of northern and western China, where it inhabits low-vegetated slopes and canyons with harsh weather conditions. It is therefore very tough by nature and can withstand extreme heat and cold as well as rough winds. In addition, despite its remote origins, it is very urban and accepts the exhaust gas in large cities without complaint. Therefore, it is also a perfect candidate for the front yard ornament of houses on major streets.
Winter jasmine has been widespread in our country since its introduction from China in the 19th century. You can see it in many gardens and it has long since become wild in parts of Central Europe.
growth
When it comes to growth, the winter jasmine also has amazing things up its sleeve. In gardens one usually sees it in a completely unspectacular, shrubby habit in bordering hedges. As a free-growing shrub, it grows up to 2 meters high and 3 meters wide. Its square, sparse, tough twigs grow arching and overhanging and can get out of hand as the plant ages. They are initially green, but very quickly become lignified and turn brown.
In the first two years, the winter jasmine grows very slowly, but then all the more intensively.
The winter jasmine can also be cultivated in a completely different way. On the one hand, it can be used as a ground cover thanks to its wide growth and its long, rootable branches, if it is pruned accordingly.
You can also use it to green or bloom walls and house walls. The winter jasmine is a spreading climber and can also climb vertically with a trellis. In this culture form, it can also reach heights of up to 5 meters.
Growth characteristics at a glance:
leaves
On the twigs, the jasmine forms opposite arrangement of pinnate leaves, each with three small, dark green, shiny individual leaflets. These have an ovoid, entire shape of about 1 to 3 cm in length. They are deciduous, meaning they are shed in winter.
blossom
The flower is of course the highlight of winter jasmine - after all, it appears unusually early and also gave the shrub its name. They are formed individually standing directly on the armpits of the previous year's branches and literally cover them with their yellow pile.
The flowers are very similar in size, shape and color to those of forsythia, but they have more, more precisely five to six petals, which are also rounder and not as long. There are only two stamens. In contrast to most other species of the genus, the flowers of the winter jasmine do not develop a scent.
Flower properties in keywords:
heyday
The winter jasmine also has the early flowering period in common with the forsythia, although it is much earlier. When the weather is mild, they can start showing off their fresh yellow color in the garden as early as the end of December. In addition, the flowers last until April - unless there is another severe frost before then, when they can freeze to death, but they often sprout again.
To remember:
fruit
Winter jasmine almost never produces fruit in central European latitudes. When they appear, they appear as ovoid berries about 6 millimeters long and about 3 to 4 centimeters in diameter.
location
As far as the location is concerned, the winter jasmine is extremely frugal in many ways. Since its natural habitat involves fairly harsh weather conditions, it can handle many extremes such as intense heat and sunshine, frost and gusty winds. In terms of light, it should be rather sunny, but it also thrives in partial shade. It also makes hardly any demands on the soil - although it prefers a relatively nutrient-rich, freshly moist and rather permeable planting ground, it also grows without any problems in lean, sandy soil. In terms of pH, he prefers it rather chalky.
To remember:
planting time
It is best to plant a winter jasmine in early spring to give it the opportunity to establish itself well over the warmer half of the year. The same applies if you want to grow the winter jasmine in a bucket. In this case, however, planting in autumn is also possible. Winter jasmines planted outdoors should be protected from severe frost in the first winter with fir branches.
planting distance
If you want to incorporate the winter jasmine into a hedge, for example together with other deciduous hedge plants such as privet or hornbeam, you should plan a distance of at least one meter to the sides.
If you want to let it climb up a house wall, you only need to keep about half a meter to any neighboring plants, as the focus here is on height growth.
pour
As a rule, you do not need to water the winter jasmine separately. Due to its rough original habitat, it has developed a largely self-sufficient way of life and is self-sufficient in many respects. However, it is advantageous if it is planted in soil that is already evenly moist.
Fertilize
The winter jasmine does not have any additional nutrient requirements either. If you want to do something good for him, you can give him a little compost in the spring or even a liquid fertilizer with a high concentration of potassium. In any case, its soil should be repaired with compost when planting.
If you keep the winter jasmine in the bucket, the fertilizer application with compost or liquid fertilizer is of course a little more justified because of the smaller substrate volume. If you value strong flowering, you should definitely use phosphorus and potassium-rich fertilizers. Nitrogen-containing, growth-promoting fertilizers are not suitable for winter jasmine, if only because of its small leaf mass.
To remember:
To cut
The winter jasmine is characterized by a rather sparse growth - and with increasing age also by a rather brisk growth rate. If you don't want it to get out of hand and look unkempt, regular pruning is essential. However, if you start right at the beginning, nothing stands in the way of a handsome, well-formed shrub.
Radical pruning of older specimens
Winter jasmine is extremely pruning friendly. As a result, even neglected older specimens, which have long become lignified in the center and only sprout green at the outer ends of the branches, can be rejuvenated by a radical pruning. They will reliably sprout again and develop a completely fresh, compact appearance.
Regular topiary
Otherwise, an annual pruning in spring immediately after flowering is recommended. This promotes vital growth and good flower bud formation until winter.
Boundary cut for ground cover crops
If you cultivate winter jasmine as a ground cover, you have to keep it under control a little more due to its intense will to spread. In most cases, shortening the shoots after flowering does not help - due to the strong tendency to rooting, you usually also have to pull out overly far-reaching lowering plants.
Cutting rules at a glance:
multiply
Winter jasmine has a healthy instinct for self-preservation, which can be seen in its intense rooting practice. Of course, this makes it easier for you as a hobby gardener to reproduce. The best way to do this is simply to use the scion or sinker method.
offshoot
For an offshoot, simply cut out a young, mature shoot from the bush in spring or summer that is beginning to become woody. To speed up rooting, it is best to make a light, not too deep wound cut in the lower part to be planted.
Put the cutting prepared in this way in a container with potting soil and cover it with foil if possible to create a constantly moist microclimate. Set the culture vessel bright and warm. The young plant can be planted out after just a few months, but it is better to wait until later spring in the following year.
lowering
The winter jasmine willingly forms sinkers by itself, so you only have to help yourself. Even if you keep it as a hedge shrub, its overhanging branches can accidentally take root in the surrounding soil. In the case of ground cover culture, the selection of rooted sinkers is of course even greater - here they tend to be annoying and have to be constantly decimated.
If there is no acutely rooted sinker, simply lead a branch down with the still green part and fix it in the ground with a metal hook.
A sufficiently rooted sinker can be cut off with a spade and planted elsewhere. However, the rooting should have lasted throughout the spring and summer period.
Diseases
The winter jasmine is pleasantly robust against diseases. As a rule, you have nothing to worry about with him.
powdery mildew
However, it can also be attacked by powdery mildew. Unusually, this fungal disease does not form when the weather is too wet, but rather when it is dry.
Powdery mildew not only affects the leaves of its host plant, but also the stems that have not yet become woody.
Luckily, the disease is very easily identifiable by the fluffy, fluffy, white coating on the leaves. Over time, the coating turns brownish-grey and the leaves also turn brown and eventually dry up.
In order to prevent powdery mildew, you should above all ensure healthy, active soil life at the planting site for winter jasmine. This will increase his general defenses. To do this, you regularly provide him with homemade broths made from herbs such as horsetail or cow's milk, for example. The lactic acid bacteria it contains have a positive effect on soil life. In addition, the planting ground around the shrub should be mulched.
If an infestation has already occurred, you should first - as with almost all fungal diseases - remove all diseased parts of the plant as thoroughly as possible. You can throw them in the compost because the fungus only survives on living plant tissue.
In itself, powdery mildew does little harm to winter jasmine. You do not necessarily have to carry out the control measures for its survival.
Poisonous
In contrast to forsythia and some other early bloomers, winter jasmine is not poisonous and is therefore a completely harmless garden plant. However, the fear that it could be poisonous is not entirely unfounded. Because many of its namesakes are quite poisonous. However, false jasmines should be mentioned in particular, which do not belong to the genus Jasminum and only have the jasmine part of their name in their trivial names.
Poisonous representatives of false jasmines are, for example, the scented jasmine, the star jasmine, the Chilean jasmine, the yellow or Carolina jasmine or the jasmine-blooming nightshade. However, there is a risk of confusion at most with forsythia, which is only slightly poisonous.
Tip:
The winter jasmine is also suitable for bonsai culture due to its very flexible, insensitive twigs and its very high tolerance to pruning. So if you have a soft spot for educating mini trees, you can form a young winter jasmine in a pot into artistic figures with small crown umbrellas and bizarre contours. All techniques including wires can be used for this.
sorts
There are no special varieties of winter jasmine. However, a distinction is made between certain varieties, which differ significantly from one another in some respects.
Jasminum nudiflorum var. nudiflorum
The nudiflorum variety is the usual winter jasmine, which is also the subject of this article.
Jasminum nudiflorum var. pulvinatum
At 0.3 to 1.2 meters, this variety is significantly smaller than the most common variety here. Its very fine twigs, about 1 mm thick, are leafless at the tips and become thorny. The flowers also appear much later, in April, and can last into September.