You all know how much I like making new plants, but you should also know that I really like it when plants make it easy for the propagator! Many plants do just that by creating aerial roots that normally will be used to grab onto surfaces and climb. Vining plants (of course) are especially good at this like my
Winter blooming jasmine. It's also known as
Jasminum nudiflorum and is an especially awesome plant because it blooms when nothing else is! Our Jasmine has bloomed both in February and March before many other plants were ready to start the spring show. If you look along the stem of the Jasmine you will see a few roots extending from one of the nodes. These are the aerial roots that are normally used for grabbing onto structures and give the plant the ability to climb up and through other plants.
Propagating Winter Jasmine:
These aerial roots also make winter Jasmine easy to propagate. Simply cut below the node with the roots place in your medium and keep moist. The roots will take off before you know it! Don't worry if there aren't any roots extending from the node, if you stick it they will come! Roots or no roots sticking the nodes into the rooting medium usually brings good results without rooting hormone. Winter Jasmine roots well pretty much anytime during the growing season.
More About Winter Jasmine:
Winter Jasmine is a zone 6-10 plant and is actually considered a shrub but grows so vine like in my garden that that's how I consider it. It would be easy to train on a trellis or prune it to become more of a shrub. It seems to enjoy crawling on the ground and has a somewhat weeping habit if in shrub form. While I haven't done this I think this would be a a great plant to train on a split rail fence or other rustic structure. It's not a native shrub but hasn't shown any signs of invasiveness in my garden. I have it situated in a late afternoon sun location but it should do fine in full sun to part shade. Winter Jasmine also appears to be unappetizing to deer and rabbits which in my garden - IS A MUST!
