Sometimes I will obtain a plant that is totally inappropriate for our small, crowded gardens. This is the case with a jasmine (Jasminum mesnyi) plant that I bought a few years back. Not knowing anything about the flower except that it was supposed to smell nice, I put the tiny plant in a 3-foot wide garden, next to a shrub and small rose bush. It did very well, enduring drought and suffering no ill effects during the winter. I had to start pruning it by its second year as it was putting out long, arching stems at an astonishing rate. Not until it bloomed did I realize that the little plant I had was the same as a huge sprawling shrub that is commonly used to line highways here in Austin.

This species of jasmine has bright yellow flowers in the spring and is called primrose jasmine. It is a climber with woody stems but seems to more often produce a large, messy shrub, reaching heights of 6 feet or more. The leaves have three distinct leaflets and are bright green and smooth. The long stems will root anywhere they touch the ground, making the plant an effective barrier shrub without thorns. In the spring, the flowers are a gorgeous yellow color, but have very little smell.