Plant Preview


Welcome to Plant Preview, a blog dedicated to helping gardeners learn about gardening techniques and preview new plant cultivars. Read about new plants here first and hear how your "comrades in compost" are making use of new plant introductions in their gardens and landscapes. Blog author Geri Laufer is a life-long dirt gardener, degreed horticulturist, author and former County Extension Agent. Plant Preview is copyrighted by Geri Laufer.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Container Plantings and Snow-N-Summer™ Asiatic Jasmine


Last fall I was asked to give a talk to a local garden club on container gardening. In addition to my visuals, I rounded up a large container, soil mix, plants and bulbs to do a demonstration. The familiar exhortation to use “thrillers, spillers, and fillers” to round out container plantings had me reaching for a new Garden Debut® introduction, the trailing Snow-N-Summer™ Asiatic Jasmine.


I was “tickled pink” by this cultivar’s outstanding leaf color. The best asset of any Asiatic Jasmine is its glossy, fine-textured foliage, and Snow-N-Summer™ is exceptional with striking pink-n-white new leaves that keep the smiles coming. The emerging new growth of shade tolerant Snow-N-Summer™ Asiatic Jasmine is amazingly variegated. Colors on new sprouts range from soft pink to medium rose, white, dappled green and white, and copper. Later in the season, varying shades of green develop. The best foliage color is produced in part sun to bright, dappled shade, because heavily shaded growing conditions will reduce the intensity of the foliage variegation. The colors intensify throughout the summer and persist into the winter months, perfect for year-round container plantings.

I turned pink with pleasure when I saw the container come together. This beautiful, evergreen accent ground-cover delivers appealing color year-round in the landscape, and makes a strong contribution to decorative mixed containers that are so popular in today’s upscale gardens and terraces. Snow-N-Summer™ Asiatic Jasmine performs beautifully when used in year-round containers with annuals, perennials and even shrubs or small trees. It has a moderate growth rate; in containers it trails delightfully, while in-ground it exhibits a compact spreading to mounding growth habit that can be pruned or sheared to control height and spread. Shearing also promotes new growth emphasizing the beautiful pink and white coloration.

Actually Trachelospermum asiaticum ‘HOSNS’, Snow-N-Summer™ was developed by Bob and Lisa Head, members of the Garden Debut® consortium of plantsmen. Bob notes, "Not many variegated cultivars of Asiatic Jasmine can withstand cold winters, but Snow-N-Summer™ has been evaluated over many years and shows a greater adaptability. The extremely colorful variegation is pronounced all year, and has proven very drought tolerant in above-ground containers. In spring it brightens up very quickly". The plant adapts very well to variable growing conditions and climates, and it makes a wonderful addition to any garden, with very good heat and cold tolerance in USDA Zones 7a - 9b, so it is perfect for Atlanta containers.

Do you have a pet “spiller” you use in containers?

P.S. I planted rosy pink tulip bulbs in the soil beneath the other plants to come up and bloom in the spring.

17 comments:

  1. Photo credit, picture #2 Gossetts Nursery. http://www.gossettsnursery.com/

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  2. Looks lovely! Wish I could grow it here in zone 6b. Maybe in a container that spends the winter in the shed?

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  3. Thanks! Perhaps give it a try at the base of a South-facing brick or stone wall, in the ground rather than a container.

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    1. I am in zone plants 7b , snow jasmin could survive in winter ?

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  4. Just what I needed to know before purchasing this little beauty.

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  5. Thank you all for your comments, and please let me know how it does in your climate. gardengeri

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  6. how does this handle direct full sun for a few hours in the afternoon?

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  7. pink and white color typically gets stronger with sun; I'll have to investigate about full afternoon sun

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  8. I have mine in direct afternoon sun, and it has done fine and it is very hot out front in a container is where I have it in front of my bay window so I can look at it from my kitchen. So far it has liked the heat and sun,I have had it for 3 months now and it is starting to trail up the hanger that I have it on. I love this plant, beautiful and low maintenance. The new growth is pink and white and looks lovely.

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  9. I forgot to add that I am in Charlotte, NC. I think that is zone 7 not for sure.

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    1. The new interactive USDA Climate Zone Map has just been published. Put your zipcode in and find out your Plant Hardiness Zone. Here's the link: http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Default.aspx
      Geri

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  10. Is this varity extremely invasive? Other sites have called some varieties "The Devil Weed". I planted it last summer and it hasn't done much so far but if it going to go crazy, I want to dig it up before warm weather gets it growing like wild.

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    1. Because of the white and pink in the leaves (not as much chlorophyll and decreased photosynthesis), this variety is less vigorous than the species and is not invasive. Linda Askey had a bed of it a year ago, and she said looked like pink flowers all summer and she never once mentioned any difficulties with being too vigorous.
      If yours goes crazy I'll drive over and pick some up; I planted 6 quarts in my garden last fall and hope it is vigorous. Fingers crossed! Geri

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    2. How can I make new cuttings for this plant.

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  11. Dear Anonymous, technically, you are not allowed to make and sell cuttings because this is a patented plant. The plant will layer itself once you get it going in a bed with rich soil. Best, Geri

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  12. My snow-n-summer gets a lot of morning sun. It's new growth is dark green---I'm not seeing my beautiful pinks and creams anymore. Maybe that other plants are crowding it. Any thoughts?

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    1. same concern.. myne rarely shows the pinks motly just orsngey red new leaf then to dark green after a while. i fell in love w= its supposed pinks and white foliage :(

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