JASMINE
The other night I was watching director Richard Lester’s 1973 version of The Three Musketeers. It is one of my favorite films and every time I watch it I am struck by the way Lester captured the feel of mid-seventeenth century France–complete with lechery, debauchery and dirt, not to mention livestock in the streets. The only thing that Lester couldn’t capture was the smell of that time, which was probably a good thing, as the film’s audiences would have been much smaller.
We humans have been trying to hide or banish bad smells for millennia. One of the best ways to get the job done has always been to cultivate sweet-smelling flowers, fruits and herbs and keep the plants themselves close to us or distill them into perfumes. Jasmine is one of the oldest and best-loved of these fragrance plants.
The jasmine flower’s scent is heavy and sweet, and once it’s made into perfume, a little goes a long way. There are about two hundred jasmine species, most of which are native to tropical regions in Asia, Africa, Europe and even Australia. The plants, which tend to have rambling or vining habits, are part of the oleaceae family which also includes olive, forsythia, privet and lilac. Jasmine’s characteristic tubular blossoms bear a striking resemblance to those of other olive family members. They are most often white, but can also be cream, yellow and even pink. The small green leaves usually grow opposite each other all along the stems.
Only a few species can survive outdoors in cold winter climates. One of them is Jasminum nudiflorum, the winter-blooming jasmine. Its yellow flowers and pronounced fragrance are typical of the species, but unlike others of its tribe, it shrugs off winter. I planted one J. nudiflorum several years ago, and it spread all over the place, rooting wherever its many tangled branches touch down, and frequently making a nuisance of itself in my landscape. I finally transplanted one of the offspring of my original plant to a protected place in the back garden and wound its long shoots around a support. When February comes, the blooming shoots will be closer to my nose and the rambunctious canes will be farther from the g round.
The white-flowered Jasminum officianale is sometimes called “Hardy Jasmine” because it can survive outdoors in places other than those with warm winter climates and even requires rather cold temperatures to set flower buds. In my USDA Zone 6 garden the plant is hardy if it is in a protected spot and the winters aren’t unusually cold. I am thinking of growing one in a large pot just outside my back door. Theoretically at least, the heat from my house will give it just enough warmth to keep it alive during a New Jersey winter, but not so much that it will refuse to bloom.
But the outdoor species don’t really satisfy my winter jasmine cravings. I have also invested in a small potted Jasminum polyanthum, or winter blooming jasmine. Like J. officianale, the polyanthum species has sweetly scented single blossoms. Its vining habit makes it perfect for windowsill pots or even hanging baskets, and at this time of year catalog vendors offer it in a number of different containers. It also needs a degree of coolness to set buds, so keep it away from heat sources. It will take some doing, but I am going to find just the right cool indoor space for mine. My husband likes to keep the thermostat on the low side in the winter and he just may be my jasmine’s best friend.
I am especially fond of J. sambac or “Arabian tea jasmine,” which is actually native to India. Sambac jasmine is widely used for decorative garlands, perfumes, medicines and for flavoring, especially infused in delicate jasmine tea. Long cultivated and enjoyed in the Middle East and parts of Asia, J. sambac arrived in Europe with the Moors around 1600 and spread northward. Some sources suggest that it made its way to England by the end of that century. There are several well-known cultivars of Jasminum sambac. ‘Grand Duke of Tuscany’ has beautiful little double-petaled flowers that look like tiny white roses or carnations. The romantically-named ‘Maid of Orleans’ has single flowers and an everblooming habit when it is positioned in a sunny window. ‘Belle of India’ is semi-double, with the same requirements as its J. sambac siblings.
I also like Jasminum rex, which hails originally from Thailand. As befits a plant with such an exalted name, Rex has the largest jasmine blooms–about three inches wide as opposed to the one inch wide blossoms of other jasmines–and they appear in fall and winter.
You can buy jasmine plants already in bud for the holidays. As with any flowering specimen, the trick is providing the right conditions for rebloom. A little attention to the details of temperature and light will provide you with fragrant “air conditioning” at a time of the year when there is a definite shortage of good smells.
Buy potted Jasminum polyanthum from White Flower Farm, P.O. Box 50, Route 63, Litchfield, Connecticut 06759, (800)-503-9624, www.whiteflowerfarm.com. Free catalog. For a good selection of jasminum species and cultivars, try Logee’s Greenhouses, Ltd, 141 North Street, Danielson, CT 06239, (888) 330-8038