Common name: Yellow jessamine, Carolina jessamine, Carolina jasmine, evening trumpetflower
Botanical name:Gelsemium sempervirens
Virtues: Fragrant flowers that appear in late winter or early spring. Evergreen, vining habit. Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.
Foliage: Glossy green and narrow, 2 to 3 inches long. The leaves remain on the stems all year but take on a purple or yellow cast in the winter.
Flowers: Yellow 2-inch-long tubular flowers are held in clusters. Appear in late winter or early spring. Fragrant.
Habit: Evergreen vine to 20 feet. In full sun it may have a compact habit. Without support, it forms a tangled mound of stems.
Season: Late winter for flowers; year-round for foliage.
Origin: Dry to wet thickets and woods from the southern Mid-Atlantic through the Southeast.
Cultivation: Full sun to part shade. Growth remains bushier in full sun; more vining in part shade. Full sun promotes best flowering. Prefers moist soil. Tolerates drought but may drop its leaves in dry times. Tolerates sandy soil or clay. Will grow in containers or as a groundcover. All its parts are poisonous. USDA Zones 7–9.
Image rights: public domain
