Jasminum mesnyi
- An evergreen strong vine that can be clipped to bush form.
- Blooms on previous season’s growth, prune soon after flowering.
- Water requirement once established is very little.
- Does well in full sun to partial shade.
- May die to the ground following a hard freeze.
Primrose jasmine makes a fine specimen shrub, growing in a fountain like mound of glossy green foliage with bright yellow fragrant flowers in early spring and sporadically into the summer. Use it to trail over fences or walls. It is spectacular in masses and adds interest to mixed shrub hedges and screens. Use any of the mounding jasmines for erosion control on banks or slopes where their long trailing canelike stems will take root where they touch the ground.
The natural growth habit of Primrose Jasmine is fountainesque, meaning that its shoots, up to 10 feet long, arch up and over like the flight pattern of rockets shot into the sky. This is similar to the growth habit seen on glossy Abelia (Abelia grandiflora), another excellent candidate for a whimsical, informal hedge. And, lest I forget, its water requirement once established is virtually nil, and it will survive a freeze down to 20 degrees, in addition to growing in both full sun or light shade.
Primrose jasmine blooms on the previous season’s growth, so prune soon after flowering. Remove old, less productive canes to ground level, and head back flowering shoots to a strong bud or lower shoot. Shearing would destroy the natural beauty of this graceful shrub. If grown in a restricted space, primrose jasmine may require pruning several times a year.
