
Looks can be deceiving. Night blooming jasmine, Cestrum nocturnum, does not look like much. It looks even less interesting in the darkness of night. However, its floral fragrance on warm summer nights is famously sugary and intense. Some might find it too intense. Nocturnal moths and bats are its preferred pollinators, so it is not fragrant during the day.
Because of its mundane appearance, night blooming jasmine is good in the background. It tolerates a bit of partial shade, so can be happy close to fences and buildings. It works well witin narrow spaces between houses and below high windows. Where winters are cool, it needs shelter from frost. It appreciates somewhat regular watering and rich soils.
Mature night blooming jasmine rarely grows higher than first floor eaves. It is quite easy to maintain lower, particularly if pruned aggressively after winter. Its narrow floral trusses suspend several small and narrowly tubular flowers. Individual flowers are about an inch long, and greenish white or pale yellow. Simple evergreen leaves are a few inches long, and narrow.