Jazz It Up with Jasmine, a Healthy Choice

While washing my clothes at the local Laundromat the other day I spotted some pretty little jasmine flowers. The fragrance was heavenly. I wish there was a way to place a scratch and sniff here so you could enjoy the fragrance with me. As I inhaled this lovely fragrance I realized I had a tin of tea at home that smells exactly like this.

The flower (pictured) originally came from Texas. He (the owner of the Laundromat) advised me that this particular type of jasmine does not bloom in December, but we surmised it was because of the warmth and the fluorescent lighting in the Laundromat.

Jasmine (Jasminum) or jessamine has many species available and the one pictured is just one.

It is native to southwest China according to White Flower Farm and was first introduced to England in 1931. The head gardener of the White Flower Farm brought 100 cuttings back with him from a home visit and began growing the fragrant flower in their greenhouses in 1950. According to this site the plants can grow up to 6 inches daily in the spring. Theirs bloom shortly after the beginning of fall and the flowers are more tubular shaped.

Jasmine grows in shrubs and vines.

Some of the species listed in Reader’s Digest Illustrated Guide to Gardening were:

·         Cestrum nocturnum (night blooming)

·         Madagascar (Stephanotis)

·         Willow-leaved (C. parqui)

·         Jasmine, rock (Androsace)

·         Jasmine night shade (Solanum jasminoides)

·         Jasmine, star (Ttachelospermum)

Plants can be evergreen or semi-evergreen, deciduous, climbing or shrub like. Flowers can be full as the one shown or tubular like the one below, which is South Carolina’s state flower.

Picture source

The extracts of this flower are used to treat eye infections and for perfumes and shampoos, however. All parts of this plant are poisonous – The Flower Expert