Carolina jessamine is the state flower of South Carolina, which makes the vine something close to a local obligation at a nursery in Aiken. The plants open clear yellow trumpets in the first warm week of the year, often in February, running along fencerows and up into pines with a scent that carries down a whole road on a still morning. Evergreen, fast, durable, and one of the earliest nectar sources of the Southern year.

'Margarita' is the cold-hardy selection, taking winters well north of the natural range; 'Pride of Augusta' is the double-flowered form, longer in bloom and heavier in the hand. Gelsemium rankinii, the swamp jessamine, is the one to plant for a second season, flowering in spring and again in autumn, though the flowers carry no fragrance and the plant wants wetter ground. One honest caution: every part of a jessamine is toxic, nectar included, so keep the vine away from where children graze and do not let anyone mistake the flowers for honeysuckle.