Ode to the Yellow Jessamine

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Common names, common names – I say "yellow jessamine," others "Carolina jessamine," and some people get way off course using "Carolina jasmine." Way back in 1924, this language was used to describe its elevation to the state flower of South Carolina: "It is indigenous to every nook and corner of the State; it is the first premonitor of coming Spring; its fragrance greets us first in the woodland and its delicate flower suggests the purity of gold; and its perpetual return out of the dead of Winter suggests the lesson of constancy in, loyalty to, and patriotism in the service of the State.” Those guys back a hundred years ago sure knew how to use flowery language but this flowering vine is pretty danged spectacular as it covers and drips off leafless trees.