Appearance

• Night-blooming jasmine has shiny green leaves 4 to 8 inches long with small, whitish-green tubular flowers that grow above the leaves. After the flowers form, the white berries follow. Flowers are not as showy as other night-blooming plants, but the heavy, sweet scent can travel as far away as 20 yards. Shrubs can grow 12 feet tall with a spread 4 to 6 feet.
  
  

Butterfly Gardens

• Night-blooming jasmine is ideal for butterfly gardens as it provides food for some caterpillar varieties. At night, some species of moths pollinate the jasmine. The moonlight reflecting off the white flowers makes it easy for the moths to find the jasmine from a distance. The hovering hawkmoth flies upwind following the heavy scent of the night-blooming jasmine and flutters its wings while feeding on the nectar.
  
  

Culture

• The best blooms are seen at night when the jasmine has full sun during the day. Shrubs can tolerate shade, but the blooms will not be as prominent as they are when the shrub has at least six hours of sun. Night-blooming jasmine prefers light, airy, sandy soil that is kept moist but not soggy. Jasmine is not tolerable of salt and needs some 3 to 4 inches of mulch covering the shrub for protection from frost.
  
  

Toxic

• Flowers and berries of the night-blooming jasmine are poisonous to humans and animals. However, birds do eat the seeds. Birds are responsible for the invasive nature of night-blooming jasmine in Hawaii. Birds not only eat the berries, but fly away with the seeds from the shrub spreading the seed for new growth.