Patch Blog: The Cityfarm Plant Profiles--Pink Jasmine

In February and March, blooms are everywhere. Our fruit trees alone provide such beauty, overloading our senses with their fragrances and blossoms. Anyone who has witnessed the delicate snowing of pear flower petals in February or has passed an orange tree blooming fragrantly in March can attest to this.

Around here, however, two blooming vines, Wild Cucumber and Pink Jasmine, steal the show. These vines are about as different as can be, yet together they wind their way upwards to dominate the late winter landscape in NELA.

This week, we'll focus on pink jasmine

Pink Jasmine (Jasminim polyanthum) 

Pink jasmine is not endemic nor unique to Southern California, but this is one of the few places in the world where it thrives and blooms. A native of China, pink jasmine requires six weeks of temperatures between 40 and 65 degrees Farenheit to bloom, while temperatures below 30 degrees kill it. In the tropics the vine thrives to the point that it has become an invasive weed, yet without the necessary chill, a weed that rarely blooms. While it can be invasive here--I've seen the vine choking out a fruit tree while ascending to meet the sun--it can be managed with care. Luckily for us, our mild, NELA winter gives us exactly the chill it needs to bloom, assuring us of an abundance of heavily perfumed jasmine flowers every February through May.

As intensely rich and intoxicating as it is delicate and sweet, the scent of pink jasmine, and its relatives, have been awed and utilized through the Milenia. Their flowers have been used to make fragrant garlands and leis, perfume for our bodies and to add fragrance to our teas--jasmine tea is simply green tea infused with the fragrance of Arabian Jasmine blooms. Some have used the scent of Jasmine to argue the existence of God--as my grandmother always said, "Mijo, only God could make such a heavenly scent"--while others have been so inspired as to lend its name to their daughters. Jasmine serves as the national flower of Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines, where Arabian Jasmine is known as Sampaguita after it's scientific name (Jasminum sambac).

Pink jasmine, while not as musky or sweet as Arabian jasmine, has a more balanced scent. It is often called night blooming jasmine. This is only somewhat accurate; while it is most fragrant at night, it blooms all day long. Walking around in the evenings in February and March, the scent is ubiquitous though maybe not always recognized, as its strong perfume can waft in from quite a distance. If you've ever found yourself searching for the source of an amazing scent on a late winter's eve, pink jasmine is likely the culprit.

Scents tend to evoke in us strong emotional memories, more so than our other senses. For me, pink jasmine's fragrance always reminds me of my wife. We began our courtship in early spring with the scent of pink jasmine heavy in the air. Every year, as the buds of pink jasmine start to open and release their magical fragrance, I find that I can think only of her. As I breathe in the perfumed air, I feel content, in love and at peace. I imagine that I am not the only one.