Cestrum, Night Blooming Jasmine, Night Scented Jessamine, Queen of the Night 'Orange Peel'

I love this plant and now that mine has died after 24 years, I am really feeling its loss. In Melbourne, Australia where we have hot summ...Read Moreers and relatively cool, often wet, winters it grows easily and doesn't require any special attention, apart from the occasional prune when it gets leggy or after flowering. Here it becomes a small tree approx. 3-4 metres (9-14 feet) high and approx. 1 metre (3-3.5 feet) wide. The fragrance is superb and very strong. At night, it perfumes (perfumed!) the entire front garden and could be enjoyed many metres away in the neighbourhood. I bought it initially because the smell was so delicious in a friend's small garden attached to her flat and I have never met someone who didn't love the scent. The flowers aren't anything special- creamy yellow green held in tubular clusters but the fragrance is what you grow it for. It flowers here 2 or 3 times a year. The branches will last perhaps 2 days when bought indoors and the flowers do drop as they age, making it a little untidy as a cut flower. Something- probably possums- has been attacking my tree for some time now leading to branches dying and the trunk being virtually ring barked. Given that all parts are supposed to be poisonous, I thought this was rather surprising. Before it finally expired, it threw 2 small plants a metre or so away from the parent. I am nurturing these carefully in the hope that they will flourish and replace the parent tree. I had no luck trying to grow it from cuttings as some writers have suggested but have high hopes for the newbies.

Gorgeous soft orange flowers, from May to October here just north of Seattle (zone 8), where I have it in a pot. This winter I mistakenl...Read Morey left it outside on a night it got to 10 degrees, before putting it in the garage for the rest of the cold spell. There was some dieback but it grew back fine. Only a faint scent. No pest problems at all. Lovely next to a blue Ceanothus.

Introduced by Southern Perennials and Herbs, a cross of Cestrum diurnum x Cestrum nocturnum. Pale orange blooms tipped with yellow appear...Read More in clusters throughout the summer. Evening fragrance, attracts hummingbirds, deer resistant. Frost will kill to ground, but returns in spring. Fast-growing. Enjoys heat,would appreciate being planted near a wall. In warmer climates, may behave as a deciduous shrub (6-8' x 6-8'), cooler as a herbaceous perennial (3-5' x 3-5'). Rounded habit.