How to Grow Carolina Jessamine

Though the profuse bell-shaped, yellow flowers that adorn the lengthy, twisted vines of Carolina jessamine are truly breathtaking, they conceal a deep, dark secret.

They, along with the rest of the plant, are capable of murder.

But no worries – just don’t eat it and you’ll be fine! And you’ll be thrilled with the spectacular show this plant puts on each spring.

Really.

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Don’t let our silly drama scare you off. G. sempervirens is a colorful and beloved vine that is native to the southeastern and south-central United States as well as to Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico with nary a homicide to its name.

Even deer are smart enough to leave this one alone, so you needn’t fear for the lives of your neighborhood foragers.

Climbing 10 to 20 feet up and over fences, trellises, walls, and anything else that gets in its way, this evergreen vine – hardy in USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 9 – is a favorite for the cheerful color and heady perfume of its inch-long blooms borne on wiry reddish-brown stems.

The appearance of its bright flowers is often taken as a sign that winter is coming to an end.

Homicidal tendencies aside, does this beauty sound like it might bring some much-needed drama to your garden? Here’s what you’ll learn in this article:

Of course, every potential murderer has a list of aliases, and this one is no exception.

Yellow jessamine, Carolina wild woodbine, evening trumpet flower, poor man’s rope, and Carolina jasmine are among the known pseudonyms attached to this plant.

On the scientific side, it might go by Bignonia sempervirens or the misspelled Bigonia