Tag Archives: Asiatic jasmine

Asiatic Jasmine Transpiration

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Returning to school this August, I discovered a redesigned landscape around the Parish Hall and school. I was happy to see a section planted with asiatic jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum), a Florida-friendly plant that is drought-tolerant and needs little care. It is one of my favorite ground covers.
Asiatic Jasmine

I used the jasmine to show the process of transpiration for my science students. We placed a Ziploc bag around a branch of jasmine and sealed it as much as possible. We also placed a Ziploc bag around a branch with no leaves as a comparison. The jasmine was in full sun with temperatures in the 80′s F. We left for 20 minutes to walk out to the student garden to check on the progress of the garden.

Asiatic jasmine

When we returned, the bag with the jasmine leaves had a layer of moisture inside the bag. The other bag had no moisture. Students realized the moisture was the result of transpiration. Transpiration helps to pull water up from the roots  through the stem and into the leaves of the plant. (see water movement in celery stalk) Water is needed for photosynthesis in the leaf, but some water vapor leaves the leaf through small openings and increases the amount of water vapor in the air. Transpiration is an important part of the water cycle.

Asiatic jasmine

Snakes in the Mulch

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Early this morning, I stood up from where I was weeding, turned around, and realized a black snake was only a few inches away. I put down my spade and pulled out my iPhone to take a photo. The snake was very uncooperative and stayed on its belly, so I could not see the markings underneath, although I thought I caught a glimpse of yellow. It wasn’t very long, about 12-15 inches (30-38 cm). As a comparison, the Asiatic jasmine leaves in the photo are only 1-1.5 inches (3-4 cm) long at the most.

I mentioned in an earlier post, Snake in the Grass, that my husband saw a snake in the backyard under cardboard that we were using for mulch. Today, as I watched the snake disappeared under the cypress mulch, I wondered how much more mulch I want to spread. I was going to cover most of the backyard with weed mat and mulch. Maybe I want to reconsider that plan. It is good to provide shelter for various backyard wildlife, but I’m not sure how many snakes I’m willing to shelter. I certainly have to be more careful about where I sit or lean.

I looked again at the IFAS snake reference: Dealing with Snakes in Florida’s Residential Areas and Identifying Commonly Encountered Snakes I had thought that the snake my husband described was a garter snake. It might have been, but the snake I saw this morning didn’t have garter snake markings. It looked more like a southern ring-necked snake although I didn’t see any ring. Another possibility is the southern black racer, but the length was too short for the adult racer coloring and the wrong pattern for a juvenile racer. If anyone can identify it from the photo, please let me know.

I’m not happy having snakes under foot and I certainly don’t want them in the house! According to the IFAS site, southern racers “catch a variety of prey, including frogs, lizards, small snakes, birds, and rodents”. Southern ring-neck snakes “eat earthworms, slugs, salamanders, lizards, and small snakes”.  Both sound beneficial to the environment. I’m in Florida, so I suspect I’m going to have to learn to live with them and learn to appreciate their contribution to the ecosystem in my yard.

Snake

Plant Asiatic Jasmine Closer Together

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Asiatic JasmineI followed the directions for spacing the Asiatic Jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum) when I planted them last summer. (see photo) I want the plants to be the ground cover for the front yard, and I know that the jasmine “sleeps a year, creeps a year, and leaps the 3rd year”, so I wasn’t expecting it to completely cover the ground by this summer. However, it is obvious that the plants are too far apart to be an effective ground cover. Early this spring, I added about 10 more plants, but they were the 1 gallon size. Yesterday I added 20 more plants that were the 4 gallon size. Is this enough? I don’t know, but now some are sleeping and some are creeping. If they all start leaping, I may need help getting out of the front door.

Getting Green and Finally Creeping

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Asiatic Jasmine In a previous post, Needed Nutrients, I predicted that the soil test for my yard would indicate it was low in potassium. That is not unusual for southern Florida soils, but I was basing my prediction on symptoms of the Asiatic jasmine in my yard. I fertilized the plants when I realized they weren’t looking healthy, and waited to see what would happen.

The soil test results indicate that the soil is low in potassium, confirming my suspicions. Since I added the fertilizer, the leaves are almost all a healthy green color again. Even bigger news is that the plants are starting to send out runners. I was told that they sleep the first year after planting, the second they creep and the third they leap. They are finally creeping.

Are they green and creeping because of the fertilizer, because the weather is warmer, or because they are more firmly rooted than they were a few months ago? Probably, it is a combination of all three factors. I’m just happy to have a yard full of plants that are a healthy green color and are creeping across the empty spaces between the plants. Hurray!

Testing the Soil

Posted on by rhondacarrier

Asiatic JasmineAsiatic jasmine (Trachelospermum asiaticum) should have glossy, dark-green leaves, so when the leaves on the plants in my yard lost their green color, I knew there was a problem. My guess is that the soil isn’t fertile enough and the plants are missing a nutrient or two. The green color in the leaf is due to chlorophyll and both nitrogen and magnesium are required for a molecule of cholorophyll (C55H72O5N4Mg). Is the soil missing one of those nutrients? Is it missing others? I weeded and fertilized each of the jasmine plants two weeks ago, and the lower leaves are green again, so I’m assuming that the lack of nutrients was the problem.

I need to have a better understanding of the soil composition in my yard since I’m considering putting in a citrus tree or two, some woody ornamentals, and possibly some vegetables. At the county extension office last week, I picked up soil sample bags, and I downloaded the directions for soil samples from the UF/IFAS Analytical Services Lab (note: for Florida soils only). Getting an analysis for the soil from the various areas where I want to plant will help to guide my decisions on what can be planted and also on what fertilizer will be needed for each of the areas. I’ll wait to finish my landscape design until I have the information, so I can better plan the right plant for the right place, an essential characteristic of a Florida-Friendly Landscape.