tobud.com

Orange Jasmine Bonsai

Interested in growing your own bonsai? The first step is to choose the right kind of plant.

Orange jasmine (also known as the China Box) is a large, multi-trunk shrub or small that belongs to the Rutaceae or Rue family. Its fragrant 'orange blossom' flowers stand out nicely against the dark evergreen green leaves, which are made of anywhere from three to nine leaflets.

This evergreen shrub flowers at various intervals throughout the year, and produces fragrant, jasmine-scented flowers and striking, bright orange to reddish fruit. It makes for an excellent decorative container plant or a boxwood-like hedge due to its compact habit and dense glossy green foliage. It is generally propagated by seed.

Orange Jasmine has many medicinal qualities. The Indians traditionally used its bark for making cosmetics, and the leaves as a decongestant and stimulant. The shrub's astringent qualities have also been used to treat joint pain, body aches, bleeding wounds, and dysentery. In many parts of Asia, people chew the twigs as a natural toothbrush.

The plant is found from China and India, through south-east Asia, to Malaysia and northern Australia. It has an alluring fragrance for which it is cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical areas. It is called China-box because it can handle being trimmed. It is often used in hedges.

Orange jasmine is a hardy shrub that needs only light to moderate watering. It is recommended that you give it plant food every 20 to 30 days from early spring to mid-autumn, with a break of one month during the mid-summer. New growth needs to be pruned back to a few leaves, and after the new shoots have 6 or 7 leaves propagation can be done with seeds or cuttings.

This plant needs a pot that is glazed and not too shallow, and moderately fertile, well-drained soil that is free of nematodes. It needs protection from white flies, scales, sooty mold, and nematodes. Otherwise, it is a very hardy shrub and does not require much care.