Star jasmine
Trachelospermum jasminoides
Glossy evergreen leaves all year, small white pinwheel flowers with a heavy sweet scent through mid-summer, and a restrained habit that suits a courtyard or a doorway. It wants a warm sheltered wall, and it is the climber to choose where an ivy or a creeper would be far too much plant.
- Position
- Full sun or Partial shade
- Water
- moderate demand
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Grows to
- 400–700 cm × 150–300 cm
- Hardiness
- H4
- Flowers
- June to August
- Difficulty
- Some care needed
August
In flower · Prune
Star jasmine’s year
Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.
| Activity | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | April. | May. | June. | |||||||||
| In flower | June. | July. | August. | |||||||||
| Prune | August. | September. |
Names that cause confusion
jasmine — Not a true jasmine — Jasminum is a different genus in a different family. Star jasmine is evergreen and flowers in summer; common white jasmine is deciduous or semi-evergreen and rather larger.
Timing that travels
The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.
Conditions it needs
- Light
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Frost
- Half hardy
- Hardiness rating
- H4 (RHS)
- Grows best at
- 12–27 °C
- Soil
- Loam, Sandy, Chalky
- Soil pH
- 6–7.5
- Drainage
- Free-draining
- Water needs
- moderate
- Drought
- moderate tolerance
- Waterlogging
- poor tolerance
- Heat
- good tolerance
- Wind and exposure
- poor tolerance
Where these figures come from
- LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Star jasmine — position
Checked 2026-08-13
- FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Star jasmine — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
- Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings
Checked 2026-08-13
- Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Star jasmine — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
- SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Star jasmine — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Trachelospermum jasminoides — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
- DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Star jasmine — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
- Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
Wants a sheltered wall; cold wind bronzes and burns it.
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
On your soil
Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.
| Soil | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy clay | Works, with one condition | Star jasmine will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Sandy | Prefers this soil | Sandy suits Star jasmine as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. |
| Chalky and alkaline | Grows well here | Star jasmine grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose. |
| Loam | Prefers this soil | Loam suits Star jasmine as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Silty | Prefers this soil | Silty suits Star jasmine as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering. |
| Peaty and acid | Works, with one condition | Star jasmine will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
| Shallow over rock | Prefers this soil | Shallow over rock suits Star jasmine as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. |
| Made ground and urban soil | Works, with one condition | Star jasmine will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse. |
Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.
Space and spacing
- Mature height
- 400–700 cm
- Mature spread
- 150–300 cm
- Rooting depth
- 50 cm
- Spacing
- 150–250 cm apart
Where these figures come from
- Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Star jasmine — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13
Habit and ultimate size
What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- In a container
- Good in a container long-term
Where these figures come from
- FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Trachelospermum jasminoides — foliage
Checked 2026-08-13
- In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence
No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
- How it climbs
- Twining — needs wires or thin supports to wrap around
- Vigour
- Moderate — a normal fence or arch holds it
Where these figures come from
- How it climbsSourced guidancehigh confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Trachelospermum jasminoides — support
Checked 2026-08-13
- VigourSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Trachelospermum jasminoides — vigour
Checked 2026-08-13
Support it needs. Horizontal wires or a trellis with thin members it can wrap around. It will not attach to a bare wall at all, and young shoots want tying in until the plant has something to grip.
Where and how you can grow it
Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.
| Method | Suitability | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Open ground | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Traditional dug bed | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Container | Well suitedsourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 | |
| Raised bed | WorkablesourceSourced guidancemoderate confidence
Checked 2026-08-13 |
Growing it
- TrainingIt twines, so it needs horizontal wires or a trellis with thin members to wrap around — it will not attach to a bare wall. Young shoots are pliable and want tying in to start with; once established it holds itself.
- ProtectionGive it the warmest wall available. The leaves bronze in winter, which is normal, but in an exposed cold garden the plant is cut back repeatedly and never builds the framework it needs to flower well. In a container it can be moved into shelter, which is often the better answer in the north.
Where this guidance comes from
- TrainingSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Trachelospermum — support
Checked 2026-08-13
- ProtectionSourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Trachelospermum — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
Sources for this page
GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society
Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.