Clotted Cream Jasmine Plants

• Variety: Clotted Cream — intensely scented, creamy-lemon flowers from pink buds
• Latin name: Jasminum officinale 'Clotted Cream'
• Flower: Creamy pale lemon, opening from pink-flushed buds
• Scent: Strong — classic jasmine fragrance
• Climbing method: Twining stems
• Height: To 4m
• Flowering: June–September
• Hardiness: Fully hardy
• RHS AGM: No
• Sold as: P9 and 3L deep pots, grown from cuttings by us. Peat-free compost
• Plant outdoors: Year-round
• Delivered: March–November typically. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Clotted Cream Jasmine – The Scent That Stops You in Your Tracks

There are plants you grow for how they look and plants you grow for how they smell. Clotted Cream jasmine is emphatically the second kind. The flowers are pretty enough — small, star-shaped, creamy pale lemon opening from buds that are blushed with pink — but the scent is the reason this plant exists in gardens. It is the full, unmistakable jasmine fragrance: rich, sweet, carrying on warm evening air across a surprising distance. One plant beside an open window will scent an entire room.

It is a vigorous twining climber, reaching about 4m, which is more manageable than some of the species forms that race to 8m or more. The growth is dense enough to provide reasonable coverage on a wall or trellis, deciduous in winter but quick to re-leaf in spring. It wants sun — the more warmth it gets, the more flowers it produces and the stronger the scent becomes. A south-facing or west-facing wall is the ideal position.

Placing Jasmine for Maximum Scent

The best position for any jasmine is within drifting distance of somewhere people sit. Train it over a pergola above a patio table, up the wall beside a front door, or along a fence next to a garden bench. The scent is strongest in the evening, so pair it with honeysuckle for a night-time fragrance relay — the jasmine's scent is sweeter and sharper, the honeysuckle's is warmer and headier, and together they are one of the great sensory pleasures of a British summer garden. For colour, thread a late-flowering clematis through the jasmine — the flat clematis blooms against the jasmine's starry flowers creates a pleasing contrast.

Why Ashridge?

We grow Clotted Cream jasmine ourselves from cuttings, in peat-free compost with biological controls. Guaranteed, next-day courier delivery, Which? Best Plant Supplier, and a real team in Somerset on the phone. Browse all our jasmine varieties or the full climbing plant range.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Clotted Cream jasmine the same as star jasmine?

No. Clotted Cream is a form of Jasminum officinale — the true jasmine, a deciduous twining climber. Star jasmine (Trachelospermum) is a different genus entirely: evergreen, slower-growing, with different flowers. Both are scented, but the fragrance is different. If you want an evergreen scented climber, look at our Star of Tuscany (Trachelospermum). If you want the classic jasmine scent on a faster-growing deciduous plant, Clotted Cream is the one.

Is Clotted Cream jasmine hardy?

Fully hardy throughout the UK. Jasminum officinale grows wild in parts of Europe and tolerates hard frosts. It is deciduous, dropping its leaves in winter and regrowing in spring. The stems are hardy and rarely suffer winter damage.

How should I prune Clotted Cream jasmine?

After flowering finishes in autumn, thin out congested growth and cut back any stems that have outgrown their support. Jasmine flowers on the current year's growth, so spring pruning encourages new flowering shoots. If the plant has become a tangled mass, a hard renovation prune in late winter will restore order — cut back to a low framework and it will regrow and flower the same summer.

Does Clotted Cream jasmine need a sunny wall?

Sun produces the most flowers and the strongest scent. A south or west-facing wall is ideal. It will grow on an east-facing wall but flower less freely. Avoid north-facing positions — the plant survives but the lack of warmth suppresses flowering and weakens the fragrance. Our climbing plants guide covers aspect advice for all climbers.