This fast-growing Florida Native evergreen vine displays big yellow trumpet like flowers that fill the air with its sweet smelling fragrance mostly in the summer. It climbs gracefully up arbors, fences, pergolas and trellises. They can also get to be a thick mounding groundcover if left growing without support.
How to care for Carolina Jessamine
Light. Full sun gives the most flowers. It tolerates some shade but climbs taller there.
Water. Water regularly until established. It is fairly drought tolerant but does best in consistently moist soil. Dry spells cause leaf drop, and it usually recovers once watered.
Soil and feeding. Plant in rich, acidic sand or loam. Use a balanced fertilizer during the growing season; overfeeding reduces flowering. Salt tolerance is low.
Size. Starts at about 3 ft. In full sun it stays bushy; on a fence or arbor, vines reach 20–25 ft.
Pruning. It is easy to keep in bounds with trimming. Grown as a groundcover, it does not bloom well.
Problems to watch. It has few disease or insect problems.
Good to know. A Florida native that flowers in late winter. All parts are poisonous, and the sap may irritate skin.
Sources: UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: Carolina Jessamine · Florida Native Plant Society Plant Database: Gelsemium sempervirens
