This is a Florida native, so don't shy away from planting it in this state. It is evergreen, so it looks nice year round, something that is appreciated in the northern part of the state. It is tolerant of drought, but grows much faster in moist locations.
All parts of Carolina Jessamine are poisonous. The sap can be a skin irritant in some people.
It has few problems with pests or diseases.
Pollinators love it. Hummingbirds go gaga over it, and it blooms early in the year, ready for those hummers who are heading back north or the ones returning to north Florida.
If it seems to get out of control, don't worry. It's easy to pull up unwanted portions or volunteers.
It seems to light up the tops of the trees it has grown up into when it blooms in spring, especially if those are deciduous trees.
Also works great as a ground cover and along steep banks.

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Just one thing....my plant is huge and it's in full sun, so nothing compact about it. It used the chain fence for support. Butterflies and hummingbirds come to this plant for early nectar source!

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Carolina Jasmine is a hardy evergreen vine that can attain heights to 20 feet if grown in shady conditions. When grown in bright sun it will attain a more compact and bushy form. The beautiful yellow blooms in late winter and early spring are very fragrant. This vine can either be grown on vertical supports like an arbor or trellis, or left without supports to drape over containers or walls. In shady gardens it will climb up the trees to reach sunlight. The Carolina Jasmine is cold hardy to zone 7 but can be killed by frequent freezes.

I grow this as a container plant with a trellis here in my Florida garden and it's one of my favorites with the beautiful fragrant yellow blooms.

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Just a warning about the fragrance. It can be cloying. When I lived in Piedmont years ago, where this plant is almost invasive and seems to be a fixture in most gardens, my neighbors and I couldn't fall asleep at night unless we closed all the windows when it was in bloom. The scent was so strong that it kept us up at night otherwise.

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I noticed a couple of Carolina Jasmine specimens growing as volunteers on some oak saplings on part of my lot I had reclaimed from a blackberry and honeysuckle bramble the year before. Once I noticed them (due to the unexpected blooms), I began to look more closely at the growth around other trees and found many other specimens that had not bloomed yet, possibly because they were too young or were only then able to compete once the blackberries and honeysuckle were removed. The area I cleared is to be my garden, and these native volunteers are more than welcome, although some may need to be relocated to more appropriate spots.

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South Carolina's state flower.

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