Madagacar Jasmine

PLANT INFO

Stephanotis floribunda is a beautiful conservatory and house plant, grown for its glossy, dark green leaves and long-lasting white jasmine-scented flowers from spring to autumn. Also known as Madagascar jasmine, floradora or bridal wreath, it’s often used in wedding bouquets. Its name comes from the Greek ‘stephanos’ (crown) and ‘otis’ (ear) – a reference to the crown of stamens within each flower. 

Stephanotis is a vine and is often sold trained over a wire hoop – as it grows you can try growing it up a trellis. It has a reputation for being rather tricky to grow and it can be slightly difficult to coax into re-flowering. The flowers appear along the length of the whippy stems produced in the current year, and can be encouraged by growing them in a bright, humid and warm location in spring and summer, and feeding them with a potassium-rich liquid fertiliser.

If your plant is very happy, it may bear a pear-like fruit, up to 10cm long. This is not edible, but you can try saving the seeds inside to sow.