Much more gentle scent. Wafting but not over powering. I would plant it much closer than NBJ.

I kinda was thinking that cause i did cruise by the aisle that had the nonclearence arabian jas. That were in bloom and gave it a sniff but they were right next to the gardenias and all the scents were mixed up.

I got a Grand Duke of Tuscany jasmine last year. It is forming buds now, can't wait for them to open. Also have Heaven Scent gardenias, why am I getting yellow leaves?? I treated them with iron, still doing it. I've been fertilizing them pretty often with acid fertilizer, do they need to be fertilized often??

I don't fertilize my gardenia at all. But i do have some rusty nails placed in the soil they have been there for years and the plant is doing well except for the occassional attack by scale every few years.

Look at the branches for scale, it will look real close to the same color as the bark but be little bumps on the stems of the plant. If you press them with your finger nail they will pop and a drop of liquid stuff comes out of them. Scrape them off the stems when you find them but pop them first elsewise the ants will just bring them back onto the plant. The ant harvest the honeydew they produce and actually farm the aphids kinda like people farm cows for milk.

Maybe I'm loving it too much??

jane_ny you should try fertilizing that Gardenia they love some fertilizer..the plant gets nice lush green foliage and the blooms get humongous. Until recently I neglected my Gardenia and the difference is night and day.

I'm not sure about that. Mine is very big and I cut it each year. Just finished its main flowering.

Jane

Arabian jasmine is one of my favorites! I have lots of fragrance plants growing...princess of the night, lady of the night, NBJ, other jasmines, etc....but I have killed every gardenia! I m going to get a grafted plant next and if it doesn't make it....it will be my last gardenia!

I bought this one last year. I have it in a very large glazed pot and it has grown tremendously. I put it in the pot because I thought I would have to protect it from freeze. This past mild winter, it wasn't necessary.

It hasn't bloomed like I would have liked. I think it needs more sun. When it did bloom last year, the scent was very scant - had to get my nose right down to the bloom. Maybe it would be different if it was covered in blossoms. This was like a three or four bloom event. Not much. :(

I am going to start some cuttings today. I forgot about rooting it until I read my previous post (linked above).

Jane, you said you cut your gardenia every year. Is it a hard prune? How do you decide where to cut and how much do you take off? My gardenia has become sooooo spindly and leggy. Another plant that is no longer in enough sun due to my love of tree-planting and my mini-forest. :)

It looks like your gardenia is in full sun. Is that all day or only half day?

Carol in Jacksonville

Pea, to my surprise, my Jasminum sambac is putting on the Big Show this year. I guess it needed a year to settle in. So I need to revise my comment, above. Now that it is blooming in abundance, I can smell it as I come around the corner from the back yard. The scent is quite pleasant and to me, smells like other types of jasmines.

It is Jasminum sambac 'Maid of Orleans' and is in a very large glazed pot:

Here's the blooms:

I was passing by a local flea market on Friday and took a minute to run to the booth of the lady with all of the plants. Got lucky enough to snag a Jasminum sambac 'Grand Duke of Tuscany'. Woo-hoo! It has a bigger, fuller flower than 'Maid of Orleans'. There were two rooted plants in the pot, so of course, I split them. Here's one of them:

By the way, she called it "Dahbo/Dabbo" or "Dahpo/Dappo". I have searched and searched but haven't found anything on the web with that name, related to jasmine. Anyone recognize that name for this plant?

Thanks!

Carol

I'll have to go out and look tomorrow but i think my arabian jasmine has fewer petals than your maid of orleans, maybe i am remembering wrong. I was going to put mine in the ground should i try a pot first?

Pea, "Top Tropicals" has a really nice site and comparison chart for many of the jasmine varieties. Here's a link; scroll down to the middle of the page for the comparison chart. They have photos of all of the varieties, too. Great page for jasmine identification.

Top Tropicals' Jasmine page

I don't think it matters too much where you plant it. When you started this thread, you reminded me that I wanted to start some cuttings. So about two weeks ago, I started four in little starter pots, four in a Forsythe pot, and four directly in the ground. All 12 of them rooted - so easy - and no rooting hormone. So you might want to start some cuttings - just to have a back up.

Carol

Thanks for sharing the info on Top Tropicals, it's a good reference. I even watched the video lol. Then I went out and trimmed my belle of India and my duke supreme and potted up the cuttings. My maid of orleans is more established and I made 2 pots of cuttings previously which I successfully rooted and shared. I was letting the orthers grow but after watching the video, I realized I wasn't shaping them correctly. We ll see how easy they root in comparison to the maid of Orleans.

Ooooo, Helen, you have Duke Supreme? Where did you get it? (Mail order?) And if you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for it? It's on my drool/want list.

If your cuttings of Supreme root (and probably Belle of India, too, for that matter), they'll be quite valuable!

I watched that video, too, and found that it had more information that isn't in print on the site. Great info on Jasminum sambac all the way around from Top Tropicals.

Carol

Hey Helen, Would you be up for a swap of a rooted Duke Supreme for a rooted Pink Justicia (Dianthera nodosa/Justicia brasiliana) in the fall when plants can survive the mail process?

Carol

Another pot of 'Grand Duke of Tuscany' just busted out a bloom. It is fantastic and the smell is wonderful.

EDIT: Or maybe it is 'Grand Duke Supreme'? Jury is still out.

Carol in Jacksonville

The folks on the Fragrant Plants forum are telling me that the plants in the light blue and brown pots above are 'Grand Duke Supreme' (rather than 'Duke of Tuscany'):

Jasmines: 'Grand Duke of Tuscany' vs. 'Grand Duke Supreme'?

That makes me very happy because the Supreme seems a better variety.

Carol

Love_the_yard,

The plant in the brown pot above is also GD Supreme.