CAROLINA JESSAMINE.
Gelsemium sempervirens. Sometimes referred to as “Carolina Jasmine”. Evergreen foliage turns bronze in winter; golden yellow flowers, profusely, in late winter. SE US native. Once used as a central nervous system depressant; flowers are deadly poisonous (one can be fatal). Enjoy but don’t ingest! To 20’. Sun/pt. shade. Zones 8-10.CONFEDERATE JASMINE.
Trachelospermum jasminoides. Not a true jasmine either! Leathery dark green leaves, evergreen here. Sweetly-scented clusters of starry white flowers in spring. Native to the Orient. Fragrance plant. To 30’. Sun/pt. shade. Zones 8-10.CORAL HONEYSUCKLE.
Lonicera sempervirens. Dark green foliage, loose growth habit. Tubular coral blooms with yellow centers, heavily in spring with flushes in late summer or fall. Blooms are not fragrant to our senses, but full of nectar for hummingbirds. This is a vigorous, but NOT INVASIVE vine, not to be confused with the Japanese honeysuckle common to the South. Southeastern US native. To 15’. Sun promotes the best bloom, but will bloom some in pt. shade. Zones 4-10.
JASMINE, WINTER.
Jasminum nudum. Ferny foliage similar to the above jasmine’s; creamy, fragrant flowers in winter, when nothing else is doing that. Very valuable fragrance plant. To 5’. Sun/pt. sun. Zones 6-9.PASSION FLOWER.
Passiflora incarnata. Maypop. Native pasture and roadside vine. Complex and exotic purple flowers in summer, followed by leathery greenish-yellow very tasty fruits (but time-consuming to consume — the “goody” surrounds each seed, a la pomeganate.) Host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly. Sun. Length of vine limited only by the growing season and age of the plant. Zones 6-10. QUANTITIES LIMITED.RATTAN VINE.
Berchemia scandens. Woody, twining vine, with panicles of tiny white flowers in May, producing dark blue fruit in the fall. Native to SE and Central US. Woody stems used to weave baskets, chairseats; bark or leaf tea used by American Indians to restore youthful vigor and sexual vitality! To 80’ (no, that’s not a typo). Sun/pt. shade. Zones 6-10.SWEET AUTUMN CLEMATIS.
Clematis paniculata (?). This is a real “passalong”; propagated from stock collected on a nearby plantation, so we aren’t sure of the species. Clusters of fragrant white flowers in fall, that produce fuzzy, whorled seedpods that linger most of the winter. Sun/pt. sun. To 8’ or more. Zones (? again) 8, at least, and probably 9.
VIRGINIA CREEPER.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia. Woodbine. Deciduous palmate leaves have five leaflets; habit and early leaves resemble Poison Ivy. Climbs or creeps by meansof adhesive disks on tendrils. Insignificant flowers; red fall color. Eastern US Native. Native Americans brewed tea for jaundice, poison sumac rash, other uses. Dark blue berries are toxic to peopele, but have been shown to be the #1 food of migratory songbirds. Part shade/shade. Zones 4-10.
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