Getting Jasmine and Night Jessamine to Fill Out
Answered by: Richters Staff
Question from: Liz Huff
Posted: Before April 1998

How do I get the jasmine plant and night jessamine plant I ordered from Richters last spring to fill out some. I understand that these plants are vines and that they need to be considered house plants (at least in the winter) here in my zone 4+ location in the eastern foothills of Black Hills of South Dakota. I have both plants in the same pot. They look healthy but one of them is getting quite tall. I’ve already pruned it down to about 3’ in hope that it will spread out some. The other plant has many little leaves on each branch but has remained only about 10" tall. The taller plant has had flowers on it several times this winter.

The classic poet’s jasmine (Jasminum officinale affine) is a vine that does not form a bush even after pruning. You can train the vines to grow into a loose ball with the support of a wire tomato cage but it will not fill out more than that. Night jessamine (Cestrum nocturnum), on the other hand, is not a vine, but sends canes from the base that can yield a tall, sparse- looking plant. As the plant grows older it sends out more canes and so eventually it forms a tall bush. In both cases, adequate light is required to keep the plants from growing lanky. We recommend transplanting plants into separate pots because their growth patterns are too different.

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