Jasminum fruticans Stellar - Yellow Jasmine

The Jasminum fruticans Stellar, also known as the yellow jasmine or woody jasmine, is a Mediterranean shrub with a modest appearance but excellent robustness, ideal for landscaping a garden without watering or a slightly arid large rockery in not-too-cold climates. It will charm with its small evergreen foliage, cheerful spring flowering in small yellow stars, and willingness to grow without assistance in poor, limestone, arid soils in summer. For example, you can plant it in a garigue-type bed with cistus and lavender.

Chrysojasminum fruticans, the woody yellow jasmine, belongs to the Oleaceae family. It is one of the few native jasmine species in France.  It is found in sunny places, on dry, often rocky and limestone soils. From its stump, the plant produces green, square-sectioned, brittle stems. The overall vegetation has a somewhat disorderly, bushy appearance. Eventually, the bush measures, on average, 1.50 m in height and 1 m in width, depending on the growing conditions. The foliage is generally evergreen in the Mediterranean region during winter but semi-evergreen in colder areas. It consists of tiny leaves arranged alternately on the branches. Each leaf comprises three small, oblong, shiny, bright green leaflets. The flowering period varies depending on the climate. It can start as early as the beginning of April or in May or June. It lasts about two months and is not fragrant or only slightly so. The inflorescence emerges from the axil of the leaves at the terminal part of the branches. It consists of 3 to 5 small tubular flowers opening into five rounded lobes of bright yellow colour. The plant will only produce fruits if another plant pollinates it. The fruit is a shiny, purplish-black berry measuring approximately 7 mm in diameter. The adult Jasminum fruticans stump can withstand short freezes of around -12°C/-15°C, well sheltered under mulch and in well-drained soil. When the vegetation freezes, the plant regrows from the stump in spring, but its flowering may be slightly delayed.

Naturally at home in a Mediterranean garden without watering, the yellow jasmine can be easily acclimated in many regions that are not too cold in winter. As it does not tolerate excessive humidity, it is essential to plant it in a rockery, on a slope, or in a raised bed outside its original region. Some ideas for garden pairings: creeping ceanothus that blooms blue simultaneously, a Cistus Alan Fradd with large white flowers, perennial flax, Platinum Blonde lavender... It also looks excellent with Mauritanian bindweed or Convolvulus cneorum with silver foliage.