How many of you have grown Star Jasmine? It is totally new to me. Any help with this vine will be appreciated.

      Sorry I haven't written each day, but we just got back from Wyoming from visiting a daughter, son in law and a new granddaughter.  It was great to meet her for the first time.  We had some snow coming home, but all in all the travel went well.  Now back home and back to work.  I will be back to this routine of every day posting something about gardening.  We are in a deep freeze like many of you are.  So glad we had a good fall and got so much done when we did for the outside work, greenhouse work, and just get ready for this.  I need to water this week in the greenhouse, but the big project will be ordering plants.  The order form is 95 pages long, and there are 75 lines on each page...so lots to choose from.  I will be writing about some of them I am thinking this winter.  Do you have any requests for plants that I might grow here? 
      Here let us continue talking about fragrant old fashioned flowering plants.  This one I have never heard of.  Have anyone of you grown this?  Being a vine is interesting, and there is a place always for that in our gardens.
 
      Star, or Confederate, jasmine is not really a jasmine, although the scent could certainly fool you. It is an attractive vine with clusters of star-shaped, pure white flowers. You can train it to climb or just let it sprawl, as a groundcover. Star jasmine is not hardy below USDA Zone 7, but you can always pot it up and bring it indoors to enjoy. The plants take awhile to really start growing, but luckily they will still bloom while they're young. Flowering is usually greatest in the spring, with smaller flushes sporadically in summer.
 
Height: 15 - 20 ft. (Can be trimmed.)
Width: 6 - 8 ft.
Hardiness Zone: USDA zones 8 - 11
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
 
     I have long been in love with the star jasmine. The vine is covered with small white star-shaped flowers that make your garden smell heavenly. The fragrance is very similar to those of jasmine shrubs and vines, but it's in a different family.
 
Common Names:  It may be known as star jasmine, Chinese jasmine, trader's compass, Chinese ivy and confederate jasmine. The last name is used because this is not a true jasmine (Jasminum.)
 
Preferred USDA Hardiness Zones:  If you live in Zones 8-10 (7 for some varieties), It originally comes from China.
 
Size & Shape:  This is a liana that can grow anywhere from 10-40' feet long.
 
Exposure:  You can plant this in full sun to part shade. For maximum flowering potential, choose a spot with full sun.
 
Foliage/Flowers/Fruit:  The evergreen leaves are lanceolate to oval in shape with a lustrous green color.
 
These flowers are amazingly scented and I love to just breathe in the aroma whenever I come across a star jasmine in bloom. The white flowers are shaped like stars or pinwheels and are approximately 1" across.  The fruit is a brown follicle.
 
Design Tips For Star Jasmine:   This vine is versatile and can be trained onto a trellis, pergola or similar support. It can also be used as a groundcover or grown in containers. 
If you have trees in your yard, star jasmine may wind itself around the trunk. You do have to trim it away if it's covering the trunk too much as it can cause the tree to be more susceptible to falling down.  If someone in your family is allergic to perfumes or similar smells, you may want to ask them before planting this. We were never able to grow any at our house since an extended family member was sensitive to the smell and would have had problems visiting if we had one.
 
Growing Tips:  Star jasmine can handle most types of soil and once the roots have spread themselves, it can tolerate drought.
 
Maintenance/Pruning:  Star jasmine is pretty low maintenance, only needing pruning if it is escaping to somewhere that you do not want it to go or it has become dead, diseased or damaged.
 
Pests & Diseases of Star Jasmine: This vine usually does not attract many pests or diseases. Sometimes scales will attack, which can be controlled with horticultural oils. Scales drop honeydew on the vines, which sometimes leads to the development of sooty mold.
Taken from http://gardening.about.com/od/flowergardening/ss/Deliciously-Fragrant-Heirloom
 
Till next time, this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse Dougherty Iowa