Trachelospermum ‘Sassy’

Summary

UC Davis is located in Davis, California, this site has a silty clay loam soil and plants are irrigated with potable water. More information about the field sites is located in the Nuts & Bolts section.

This recent introduction of star jasmine bears flowers with a fragrance reminiscent of root beer or sarsaparilla. We were asked to trial this species in the full sun field, but previous experience caused us to caution the grower that it might not establish well in full sun in our area. Indeed, by the end of the second year we had only four plants remaining: two on 80% of ETo, one on 60%, and one on 20%. The average size of these four plants was 15.6” high (39.7 cm) and 3’4” wide (102 cm). The foliage was sometimes pale, as might be expected without some afternoon shade, but was mostly unbothered by pests or disease. The average overall annual rating was barely acceptable on all treatments, but for the plants that did survive, they were rating 4.0 and above by the end of the second summer. We suspect that, if grown in partial or afternoon shade in our area, ‘Sassy’ would have fared much better.