Heaven Scent

Jasmine is renowned as one of the most sensual fragrances, and there are many different types to enjoy. Here, Helen Young helps you choose one for your garden…

- Helen Young

The name jasmine comes from the arabic word yasmine, meaning fragrance, and that’s why we grow and love jasmine – it’s considered second only to the rose in the perfume industry. Jasmine is found in more than 80 per cent of women’s perfumes and about a third of men’s fragrances; in aromatherapy it’s considered both calming and uplifting. The genus Jasminum includes more than 200 species, many of them climbing vines or scrambling shrubs. Nearly all have white flowers but some are tinged with pink, and there are a few with yellow flowers.

1 COMMON JASMINE (Jasminum polyanthum)

Probably the best-known jasmine because it’s usually too much of a good thing: this rampant vine has a powerful perfume that carries for long distances. From late winter to early spring, dense clusters of crimson pink buds open to tubular white flowers, tinted rose-pink outside, releasing their intensely sweet, clove-like fragrance. Unfortunately, it is a thug, eager to clamber up and smother any support and to spread sideways. The root system, which forms wherever stems touch the ground, becomes a densely competitive mat, which is why it’s on the list of environmental weeds in NSW. Plant with care or grow in a pot.

2 POET ’S JASMINE (Jasminum officinale ‘grandiflorum’)