White and Fragrant: Jasminum sambac

I have to credit my sister for the idea of creating a container garden in the patio this summer.  It has been a wonderful and refreshing thing to walk out into the little cluster of potted plants, most of them thriving in the shade there.  

The patio's main exposure is to the south, where the Rose Border is beginning to line its outer edge.  The morning sun comes along one end to the east, and the evening sun shines in from the west, but overall the plants are much more sheltered here than they are in the open garden.  The one hazard has been from the prevailing westerly winds, which are scarcely slowed as they race down the long patio from one end to the other.  On the contrary, it practically forms a wind tunnel.

Which brings me to introduce Jasminum sambac, the Arabian jasmine.  Unfazed by the dry wind... or the heat.  Said to grow to 6 - 10 ft (2 -3 m), ours is still barely larger than its original nursery pot.  It sits, along with Trachelospermum jasminoides (known as Star Jasmine though apparently unrelated), against a pillar on the south side of the patio.  (The plant on the right is Jasminum sambac.)

And it blooms.

Its blossoms are so white that I've had a great deal of difficulty photographing them.  But it's high time to share these lovely things so here they are.

The fragrance is marvelous, a rich, deep perfume.  Sorry, you will have to use your imagination or your memory!

Its frost-hardiness is doubtful.  This may limit its use to the patio, though I am tempted to try it in the garden someday as it is verging on the irresistable.

Foliage is deep green and lightly textured, rounded with pointed tips.  The plant is growing upward and outward and will need some twine to climb very soon.  It's impossible to say much about its level of drought-tolerance as we just keep the pot watered normally.  But the aplomb with which it handled last week's heat and winds gives it high ranking for desert growing!

Weather Diary: Fair; High: 108 F (42 C)/Low: 84 F (29 C)