Winter jasmine: An early-blooming shrub that hints at what’s to come

Spring officially begins each year on the Vernal Equinox on March 20th. That’s what your calendar says. Ask a group of gardeners when the first day of spring is, however, and you might be surprised by some of the answers you’ll hear. Some might site the day of our last predicted frost, the day it’s ‘safe’ to plant annuals and warm season vegetables. In our area this is roughly April 15th. Some might pick the day their favorite spring-blooming tree or shrub blooms, whether it’s forsythia, dogwood, redbud, cherry, or something else. That could be just about any time in March or early April, depending on which plant they select. Some might choose the bloom time of the first “spring” bulb, be it daffodil, crocus, or tulip. That could mean their definition of spring starts as early as January or February. Still others will pick the first day it’s warm enough to work outside without a jacket.

Perhaps it’s the unpredictability of the weather, changing from year to year, or the way some winters linger longer than others and some springs start early. Whatever the reason, it can be tough to build consensus on whether plants that bloom around this time are ‘winter-blooming’ or ‘spring-blooming,’ particularly if their blooms last long enough to blend officially or unofficially from one season to the next. Sometimes the common names of the plants give us a hint, at least of what the botanists want us to believe. One such plant is the winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum

Above: Winter jasmine provides an early bold flash of color, blooming in January or February. This plant is a rapid grower, with shrubs up to four feet tall, and vines growing 10-15 feet tall. The flowers appear before the leaves. Photo: Margrit, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Winter jasmine is often confused with forsythia, another early-blooming shrub. Both have golden yellow flowers that are similarly tubular-shaped. Both bloom at a time when relatively few flowers are to be found in most landscapes. Winter jasmine, however, blooms as much as three to five weeks before forsythia in most years, meaning it may start flowering in January, certainly by February. Because of their similarities, they fill similar niches in the landscape – an arching deciduous shrub that provides an early bold flash of color to give a hint of what is to come in the remainder of spring and summer.

Above left: Bright yellow flowers pair with bright green stems to provide a welcome burst of color in the winter garden. Above right: The glossy green leaves grow opposite on the stem and are trifoliate (the leaf is divided into three leaflets). Both photos: J. Robbins CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Winter jasmine is native to Tibet and central China. As non-natives go, it is fairly well behaved. Branch tips touch the soil root easily, so if not attended, can creep from being an individual shrub to more of a thicket of multi-stemmed growth. From that standpoint, winter jasmine can be a bit ‘messy;’ however, it is usually not weedy from the standpoint of setting seed and popping up in unwanted places. An attentive gardener can keep it under control without extraordinary effort. It grows best in full to partial sun. It will tolerate heavy shade and grow reasonably well, but flowering will be limited in shade. Unlike forsythia which is somewhat non-descript in appearance once the flowers fade, winter jasmine has some interesting, if not overwhelming ornamental appearance, with both the glossy green trifoliate foliage and the bright green stems.
 
The Pitt County Arboretum’s Northside Plant Walk series is returning for 2025, and our first monthly iteration will be on March 14th at noon. The topic for this tour will be Straddling the Seasons- Am I Blooming in Winter or Spring?  We will explore plants like winter jasmine, forsythia and so many others that bloom in and around this transitionary time of year. The tour is free, but we ask that you register at go.ncsu.edu/northsideplantwalks.

Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.