Jasmine
Royal Jasmine
Jasminum grandiflora
The perfumer's jasmine — large, open star-flowers yielding the absolute that defines 'jasmine' in fragrance houses worldwide.
Scent Profile
What it smells like
Perfume unfolds in three movements. Close your eyes and follow the scent from first breath to the trace it leaves behind.
Top note
A luminous, slightly fruity sweetness with a hint of sun-warmed petal.
Heart note
A rich, honeyed floral with a refined animalic depth — the unmistakable heart of fine jasmine absolute.
Base note
A smooth, balsamic warmth that melts into soft amber on the skin.
Care
How it grows
- Light
- Full sun
- Water
- Moderate, drought-tolerant once established
- Bloom season
- Summer into fall
- Mature size
- 8–10 ft vine on a trellis
- Hardiness
- Zones 8–11
Care notes
Tending this plant
Soil
Adaptable and forgiving — ordinary garden loam with good drainage suffices. Avoid heavy clay unless amended generously with compost.
Feeding
A handful of balanced slow-release granules in spring, plus a liquid bloom feed mid-summer. Less food means more concentrated, fragrant flowers.
Pruning
Prune hard in late winter — it flowers on new wood. Train young canes to a trellis early; untangle and thin crowded stems for air flow.
Winter care
Deciduous in cooler zones; will die back and resprout from the base after hard freezes. Mulch the crown heavily where winters drop below 20°F.
Container growing
Can be grown in a large tub with a trellis, but it wants room for its roots. Use a 20+ inch pot and a sturdy climbing frame; water more often than in-ground plants.
Where it grows
A California story
The jasmine of French and Indian perfumery, grown along California's sunny inland corridors where long hot summers coax out its richest oils. It climbs with abandon and flowers in generous clusters.
