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Arabian jasmine is famous for its fragrant flowers and its use in jasmine tea and leis. It is a fast-growing evergreen climbing shrub. Glossy, dark green oval leaves create a beautiful contrast to the highly fragrant, white flowers that fade to pink as they age. These beautiful-smelling blooms appear all summer long and may continue to bloom year-round in warm climates.

Arabian jasmine can be trained as a flowering vine with supports or maintained as a sprawling shrub. It also does very well in containers and makes an eye-catching plant for patios and porches.

Maintaining Arabian jasmine is quite easy. Like other tropical plants, the Arabian jasmine requires warm temperatures, lots of sunshine, and high humidity levels. Pruning is minimal and usually only needed to maintain the desired shape. 

Keeping this plant in containers is an ideal option for areas with winters that are colder than the jasmine can handle, as the pot can be brought indoors. Arabian jasmine is not often bothered by pests or diseases. However, watch out for aphids and mealybugs.

Full to partial sun is needed for healthy Arabian jasmine plants. At least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day is ideal. If kept indoors during the winter, be sure to place this plant in a very sunny window. 

Arabian jasmine requires plenty of water, especially during the summer season. Water this plant regularly to keep the soil moist, though not wet. Avoid soggy soil as this will lead to rot.1

 When the first few inches of soil feels dry to the touch, water thoroughly. This may be once a week or more, depending on your location. It is best to reduce this plant’s water during the winter. 

IMPORTANCE OF NATIVE PLANTS

California’s varied climate can support a wide variety of plants from around the world. However, our state’s unique and beautiful native plants are often overlooked in garden design. Instead, water-intensive exotic plants that do not support the local ecology often taken the place of California native plants in people’s gardens.

You can enjoy many benefits while bringing in the beauty of California into your own garden by using water-wise native plants. Some of these benefits include:

Water Savings: A sustainably designed, drought-tolerant native garden can use 85 percent less water per year than a traditional landscape with turf and high-water use plants. Also, once native plants are planted, a well-designed drip irrigation system is more efficient than traditional sprayhead irrigation and saves watering costs. Once established, many California native plants need little additional watering beyond normal rainfall.

Maintenance Reduction: A water-wise California native garden can reduce maintenance dramatically once it is established. Eliminating the need for mowing and fertilizing lawns, applying pesticides and fertilizers, and frequently watering thirsty plants leaves you more time to enjoy your garden and other activities.

Wildlife and Biodiversity Increases: Adding native plants helps create functioning ecosystems in the garden by attracting the native insects and wildlife that depend upon these plants. Native plants and animals have developed relationships with each other, and research has shown that native wildlife prefers native plants over non-native plants. Native pollinators can improve fruit and vegetable production in your home garden, and beneficial native insects, reptiles, birds, and small mammals can manage pests such as mosquitos, ticks, and aphids.

Landfill Waste Reduction: The reduction in landscape maintenance, such as mowing a lawn, means that less green waste will be produced per year. Because many cities and homes are not set up for composting, most green waste is not composted. Gardening with native plants means less waste going into landfills.

Pesticide Use Reduction: Native plants have not only developed their own defenses against many pests and diseases, they can also attract beneficial insects and animals that attack pests. Reducing or eliminating pesticides keeps toxins out of our waterways and soil, improves environmental and human health, and allows natural and beneficial pest controllers to thrive.

Connection to a California Sense of Place is Enhanced: A garden planted with species unique to California creates a strong sense of place and helps connect you more deeply to the natural world. Including native plants in your garden connects you to the unique biological web created by the environmental history and culture of the land your home sits on. These small patches of habitat become part of a larger collective that nurtures and sustains a living landscape that not only enhances a sense of sanctuary for you, but for the plants, insects, birds, and other animals that have always lived there.

By gardening with native plants, you can enjoy many benefits – including water savings – while giving your home garden an appealing look that reflects California’s unique natural landscapes.

ABOUT GROWING WORKS NURSERY

Growing Works is an innovative,  California native and drought tolerant plant nursery established to provide job training, employment, and horticultural therapy to people with mental health challenges.

The nursery helps fulfill an ever-present local need for high quality, drought-tolerant California native and Mediterranean plants and succulents.  Growing Works is based on a thriving and sustainable business model where plant sales, job training services, and donations from supporters contribute to its success.

Curbside Pickup or Local Delivery Only