Q. We recently moved to South Carolina and this house. I think we have a honeysuckle bush growing along/up our fence. It doesn’t match up to what I am finding online. I am not sure I have smelled honeysuckle before, but this is wonderful and I assumed this is what it was. I think the leaves definitely look the same and the flower petals for the most part, but what we have doesn’t have the stamens that I am seeing in online photos.
-Aiken, South Carolina
A. Thanks for including the photos of your plant-in-question. After a search through the landscape plant manual to confirm, it appears you have a lovely, vigorous Trachelospermum jasminoides (Star Jasmine or Trader’s Compass). Here is another great online reference for you to take a look at to learn more about your hardy, easy-to-care-for beauty: http://hort.ufl.edu/shrubs/TRAJASA.PDF. Trachelospermum jasminoides are fairly low maintenance (lucky you!) and have a blossom so fragrant they are used to create perfumes.
Our next door neighbor actually has one of these and one warm nights the scent is wonderful coming over the fence. Enjoy!
Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby, co-founder, owner
The Lazy Locavores & King County Master Gardener
Seattle, Washington
Follow-Up Q. Thank you so much for your response! Do you know if I can take a cutting & plant it in other areas?
A. Yes, it’s a non-patented plant, so there are no legal issues, and it should propagate easily. I’d take three cuttings about 6-in. long, strip the bottom-most leaves, dip the cuttings in rooting hormone (you can get this at a garden center). Stick it about I-in. deep in wet potting mix in a container, cover loosely with a baggie and place in indirect light. They should take root in a couple of months. On the other hand, you can probably buy small already-started plants for not too much money. Good luck.
-Denny Blew, CenterPeace Plants
Bridgeton, New Jersey
A. Yes, it actually should root very easily with some rooting hormone. I’ve even rooted it in water. May is the best month to take cuttings. They need to be semi-hardwood, which means growth that hasn’t hardened off yet like the old wood, but isn’t green and flexible either. I’d take about 6-in. cuttings, and stick into a 1/2 peat moss and 1/2 perlite mixture, or just plain old SC sand would be fine as well. I actually had a “rooting bed” in my backyard that was nothing but plain old sand, and it rooted things very well.
You can also “ground layer” them, by scraping the underside of pieces running on the ground, and putting a brick or rock on top of them. They will form roots in the ground, and you can later cut them off and dig them up to transplant. You can also pin pieces to pots with bent wire (I use old wire coat hangers, cut and bent into “u” shapes like hairpins.).
Deborah Aldridge, horticulturist
North Port, Florida
