Hi, malmason. The GD is going to be a tall, rangy, "viny" bush. It's not a real vine with thin wiry stems that climb and climb and need a stick to hold them up. It's stems are strong enough to hold themselves up. But it puts out long shoots and is always taller than wide.

A 2 foot plant might be 6 or 8" wide, maybe even 12" wide, but a 2 footer isn't ever likely to be 2' wide. A 15" wide plant is likely to be maybe 4' or more high.

I don't think you can be successful fighting against the natural shape, because it just reasserts itself whatever you do. Pruning it back to try to thicken it will just make it put out two long whippy shoots where there was one before. A new shoot from a pruned-back plant might be 18" or more long. This is true even in full sun in high summer.

Two plants in one pot will make a much more bushy shape, and can be very attractive. I did that with one this summer, and came up with a lovely "bush" about 2' x 2'. Some people put the trimmings around the edge of the plant . Some of the cuttings will take and thicken out the appearance of the plant.

If yours has such a fragrance that it jumped in your cart, just give in and let it grow the way it wants to. It does bloom on new growth tho, so pruning is good for it from time to time.

It's doing the same thing on me under my 400w MH light. There are several 2 feet tall shoots, one of them stopped growing finally half month ago, I thought there was going to be a bud, but I found out it's just another shoot.

Hi, yellowthumb. Yes, mine too put out long weak whippy branches under the lights. I figure I'll reshape next summer. The lights keep them alive, but don't match sunshine.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I am now thinking to put a tomato cage so the canes wouldn't flip all around.

Mehitabel, I have Maid of Orleans, Pink Jasmine, Star Jasmine and Angel Wing Jasmine. This one has the strongest fragrance in all jasmine family to my nose and I love to see it grow well. Can you please advise when shall I prune the canes?

Hi, Malmason. It blooms on new growth, so you can cut back any time during the growing season. Cutting back even a little bit after flowering encourages it to bloom again.

I wouldn't prune now til spring, tho, just because the new growth it would put out now in response will be weak and even whippier, with winter coming on.

Wait til spring, then you can cut back pretty hard, and it will flower on new growth.

However, I am always cautious not to cut back the whole bush hard at one time, "just in case". I cut back only 1/3, then wait til that resprouts before cutting back the second 1/3.

About the tomato cage... I don't know how big yours is, but one of those curved canes might look better, and should be sturdy enough to hold it. That's what I use.

I think there must be something wrong with my Grand Duke because it is about six inches tall and has been that size for about two years now. It puts out two or three blooms once in a while. I don't really mind that it stays small though because I have too much to repot as it is!

My Maid of Orleans is around six feet tall, but I've never pruned it because it is growing up the side of the patio and another vine is growing with it.

Mehitabel, I took your advice and got a Murraya paniculata from Logee's. I had a credit there and had to order a Nyctanthes arbor-tristis which keeps dying on me. Anyway, the Murraya arrived with a couple of blooms on it so it looks like I will be able to smell what you have been raving about! Now, if only I can get my other four Murraya exoticas to bloom!

Clare, with your gardeninig experience you are not doing anything wrong with your grand dukes. They are in general very slow in growth. I have seen 2 varieties of grand duke. The one I got from florida grower has light smallgreen leaves and the one I got locally has dark big green leaves. The light green one is slow in growth, but it did bloom a lot being at 1ft ht. The one I got locally was 1ft when I bought but grew to almost 3ft with 50 blooms at one time and the fragrance is sweeter than maid of orleans. If you plan to buy one more don't buy tiny one buy a decent size one so that you can enjoy the blooms.

Hey, Clare. I think some of logee's varieties are selected to be bloomingful, even if they don't claim it.

But in the case of the murraya, logee's claims it is bloomingful, and it really is.

I hope you like the scent!

Thanks for that info, Kandhi. You are too kind to me:-) That is good to know that there are two different Grand Dukes. This one definitely has the small, light green leaves. In fact, the leaves were so light that I gave it a ton of Iron Chelate this past summer to make them darker, and they are finally a lot darker. I'll keep my eyes open for the other kind.

Thanks, Mehitabel!

Hi I need help. I have Jasminum sambac - maid of orleans. The leaves and stems are illformed. Leaves appear crumpled and are closely situated.Is this an untreatable virus , I cannot identify any bugs. I uprooted one of them and the roots appear healthy. Thank you.
vadivu

Vadivu, have you fertilized it yet? Is it indoors or out? Spray the undersides of the leaves with water. They get whitefly and scale easily.
kevin

My Grand Duke is in full sun zone 10b. Its about 4.5', blooming prolifically. Its very 'leggy' and bits and pieces are sprawling on the ground in the shady side. I'm leaving it as is, as I believe it will find its balance in the garden without much help from me. Its not really spreading sideways very much - seems to prefer to grow upright.

Hi,
Can woodlice attack jasmine roots. Do you know of an effective way of destroying them. My green house is full of them and I fear they are causing the sambac leaves and stem to be ill formed.
v

my Grandduke is forming small buds on all new growth indoors. It is still in mid 40's outside. What's the lowest temp jasmine grandduke can take?

I would not worry about the mid-40's. I have a 7-foot Grand Duke outside in my yard. It can take the low 30's without any apparent damage or ill-effects (in the ground, not a container, w/ freeze cloth to cover it when it gets around 32 degrees).

Hi Kevin,
Did not see your reply earlier, the jasmines are always indoors in a green house and are atleast 4-5 f tall. I cannot identify any mites or whiteflies other that the woodlice. They have 3 monthly feeding (slow release granules) but are suffering badly from God knows what....The leaves appear crumpled and are in a hurry to come out and are therefore close to each other.

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone know of where to find "Grand Duke of Tuscany" in Canada? I appreciate any help I can get.
Thanks,
Tom

Hi Tom,

Try www.floraexotica.ca

They are in Quebec and have it on their web-site.

I"m also looking for Grand Duke of Tuscany in Canada, I did not see it in floraexotica.