Plant, cut & propagate winter jasmine

Even in the cold and dreary winter time, a little splash of color in the garden can work wonders. The winter jasmine delights not only humans but also animals with its early blossoms.

The yellow winter jasmine can be planted in the right place and become a real eye-catcher in the cold season - especially when the bright yellow blossoms of winter jasmine contrast with the white standing snow. You can plant the easy-care scrambler as a bed or pot dweller.

Winter jasmine: origin, properties and flowering period

The winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) originally comes from provinces in north-west China, where it grows climbing and hanging on rocky slopes. in the 19th Century he came to Europe. As a true jasmine, it belongs to the olive tree family (Oleaceae).

The winter jasmine is a spreading climber that, with a little help, can climb up to three meters in height thanks to its long shoots. It does not climb up on its own, but ideally needs a trellis and some human guidance to grow up.

As its name suggests, the yellow winter jasmine flowers in a striking yellow colour. As a deciduous plant, it sheds its leaves in autumn. The flowering period of the winter jasmine can then begin even before Christmas if the temperatures are mild. These flowers often remain until March or even April. That makes him one of the early bloomers of the year and can provide a source of food for bees and other insects early on while other plants are still in hibernation. Despite its lack of fragrance - a characteristic that is rather untypical for jasmine - the shrub attracts numerous insects with its strong color.

However, you will not find a winter jasmine in pink or white. These flower colors are from a different species belonging to the genus jasmine belongs. Especially the white-flowered real jasmine (Jasmine officinale) is often equated with winter jasmine, since it is often sold under this name due to its belonging to the real jasmines. A pink flowering variety is the Jasminum beesianum.

Plant winter jasmine: In the tub and outdoors

Find a location for your winter jasmine, this should be sunny or slightly shady and somewhat be protected from the weather so that the flowers or shoots do not suffer frost damage in the cool season comes. Even if shoot tips freeze, they usually drift again. The winter jasmine is particularly effective hanging, for example as a green wall, grown on trees or on scaffolding.

In addition, the winter jasmine can be planted in a bucket and easily placed on the balcony, but here too it prefers sunny and sheltered locations. In addition, you should wrap the pot with fleece or mats to protect it from frost damage. The pot should initially hold at least 10 liters and grow with the plant. This means that it has to be repotted occasionally up to a bucket size of 40 liters or more. To drain off the excess water, the pot needs a drainage hole and the bottom of the pot should additionally filled with a drainage layer of structural material such as pebbles, potsherds or expanded clay will.

The jasmine has quite low demands on its soil. However, it grows best on calcareous, nutrient-rich and humus-rich soil with loose, slightly moist soil in the alkaline to slightly acidic range. When planting in a pot, a loose, nutrient-rich soil with a suitable pH value is optimally used. Here, a high-quality soil - such as ours Plantura organic potting soil – are used, which prevent over-fertilization due to the slow release of nutrients and also ensure good frost hardiness and stable shoots thanks to their high potassium content. To prevent sagging, which inevitably occurs with any potting soil after a while, straight Earth in buckets mixed with about 30% structure-stabilizing material such as expanded clay, lava split or pumice will. Potting soil or mature compost can also support the growth of winter jasmine when planting outdoors.

Ideally, winter jasmine should be planted in spring with enough space to form enough roots. If you want a high-growing winter jasmine, you have to attach it to a trellis.

The most important care measures for yellow winter jasmine

Most of the time, winter jasmine thrives without any further action. But if you want to enjoy a well-tended and long-lasting shrub in your garden, there are a few simple tips that can be implemented without much effort.

Fertilize and water

As far as winter jasmine care is concerned, compost or potassium-rich fertilizer can be used in the spring come, because potassium increases frost hardness, stability and resistance to pathogens. Unfortunately, not all primarily organic fertilizers contain sufficient potassium – our animal-free one Plantura organic flower fertilizer however, this specification brings with it. Supplementary fertilization makes sense, especially with winter jasmine in the bucket, since the supply of nutrients in the pot is limited.

Additional watering is usually not necessary for older plants. Young plants in the first year, on the other hand, should be watered until a powerful root system has formed. Due to its robust nature, winter jasmine is also well-armed against drought and heat. Nevertheless, he is happy about a location that has an evenly moist ground.

Cut winter jasmine

It is best to cut the shrub after flowering, as only young shoots will bear new flowers next year and otherwise there would be an excess of old wood. If the plant does not want to spread uncontrollably in the garden, it is advisable to cut off branches that are too long and hanging on the ground. Otherwise they could set new roots. So, cutting back winter jasmine is essential to continue maintaining lush flowering and the desired shape.

Multiply real winter jasmine

Thanks to its vigorous growth, winter jasmine can be easily propagated by cutting or cutting the plant.

For offshoots, cut off an approximately 20 cm long young shoot in spring that has not yet bloomed. Remove all leaves except the top and plant the cutting deep in a nutrient-poor, loose substrate like ours Plantura organic herb and seed soil. In this way, the shoot should overwinter in a frost-free but cool place. It can be transferred to a sufficiently moist location in May after root formation.

A little tip for better root formation: The cutting should be cut at the bottom before planting in the seed compost.

Long rods that root themselves firmly in the ground are called sinkers. You can simply cut them out with their roots with a spade and replant them in a new location.

Is winter jasmine poisonous?

Unlike the similar looking one forsythia Winter jasmine is not poisonous and can therefore be safely planted in a garden with children or pets. However, many other false jasmine species are extremely poisonous and are often mixed with the real ones jasmineplants confused. That's why it's always worth taking a close look at the botanical names of the plants when you buy them.

Which others insect-friendly climbing plants you can still plant in your garden, you can find out in our appropriate article.