you might be jumping the shark a bit soon.. on whether its too late to return ...

give it another 2 or 3 weeks.. until the soil temps remain constantly warm ...

its not uncommon that last years transplants might be a bit late ...

when in summer did you plant it ???

your zone has nothing to do with spring emergence.. its consistent soil temps.. that trigger the roots .. that trigger the leaves.. etc .... it really doesnt matter if its 70 degrees during the day.. if at night.. its still falling into the 30s ... if that.. then soil temps are still cool ...

i dont know this plant.. but few shrubs are grafted ... and that is what you are asking.. if it will come true from the roots ...

ken

Uh...Ken..I think you mean 'jumping the gun'. 'Jumping the shark' means something else entirely!

It does sound like the shrub may have jumped the shark. How cold was it there this winter? You have to watch hardiness zone designations given by commercial sources, these are often overoptimistic. For example if I saw something unfamiliar labeled or signed Zone 7 I would assume - unless and until finding out differently later - that meant it is spoiled by 10 degrees F. And not that it was actually able to persist in bona fide USDA 7.

A frost-tender evergreen; treat as an annual in cold winter regions.

http://www.monrovia.com/plant-catalog/plants/2955/orange-peel-jessamine/

Thanks everyone! I believe it was planted in August. Now the lowest night temp we had was one or two nights at 18 degrees I believe and that was just recently during the cold snap . I do however live on a relentlessly windy hill . I'll surely give it a couple more weeks to show signs of life and if not I have roses coming that could fill its spot . My butterfly bushes are already showing life at the base of the plant . I liked this shrub because it looked like one of the yellow ones I can't seem to find.

'Jumping the shark' means something else entirely!

==>> i do what i want.. lol .. and if i want to show my age with an obscure fonzie reference.. so be it ... rotflmbo .... peace out ....

Other sources state that this should be considered a die back perennial in z7 - "In Zone 7, it will act as a die-back perennial and easily reach 3 to 5 feet tall and wide during the growing season."

If that is the case, I'd give it a few more weeks before throwing in the towel (since we seem to be talking in metaphors......... :-)).

gal made a joke ... lol..

thats like.. like... like.. tugging on supermans cape ...

ken

I've tried at least a couple, I know other people in the DC area that have as well...I'm pretty sure none have lasted more that a couple years...dieback or not. Another plant being called "zone 7" hardy based on growing somewhere in North Carolina (ahem) 15 miles away from the new boundary for zone 8. Let's call a spade a spade and admit in a time with increasing competition for the vanishing plant collector's dollar, certain nurseries have an increasingly strong incentive to inflate or outright fib on hardiness ratings. Most people buying something want "zone 7" to mean "zone 7 forever", not "zone 7 until the next cold winter".

Speaking of which (subtropical plants commonly planted in the Southeast) Yucca Do is closing. Perhaps not ironically (LOL), they were always less likely to make up optimistic hardiness figure for their offerings! I vaguely remember having ordered one Cestrum from them, one from PDN, and maybe one from a PNW seller, over the years.

It even gets a bit of frost damage here. It's sturdier than the red-flowered Cestrum but the winter does a number on it and it benefits from some refreshing. It's super easy to grow from cuttings so I sometimes just start again.

Most people buying something want "zone 7" to mean "zone 7 forever", not "zone 7 until the next cold winter"

This is why I have been harping on what USDA Hardiness Zones actually refer to and how hardy - or not - certain plants brought up really are here on Garden Web for years. Zonal Denial experimenters who presumably know what they may be getting into ahead of time are not going to be the typical plant purchaser. And the specific questions asked here may often make it clear those doing the asking are new to their topic.

Agreed.

Hardiness
is statistical in nature, the number is an average. But humans tend
to think of numbers as being deterministic, saying things like 'last night was 2
zones colder'. The discrepancy can't support logical deductions.

Hi Lilyfinch, would you consider a vine instead? Carolina Jesamine would work well for you. There's one called 'Margarita'. HERE is a thread about it, scroll down to the most recent post which is mine.

But the appeal of Cestrums is their long bloom period. When I had them, I observed this even on newly planted ones. They would bloom from mid-summer until mid-autumn, in spurts.

Carolina Jessamine is a great plant, but not in the same family in spite of the similar name. Anyone who discovers an ever-blooming Gelsemium would have a very valuable plant on their hands. Though I wonder, since it is known to grow in the Bay Area, if it has a long bloom period there because of the never-ending spring like temps?