Beginner Gardening: Leaf Buds or Flower Buds on Night Blooming Jasmine?, 1 by Mashavu

Mashavu wrote:
Hi!

A little pointless background:

I'm new to the forum and pretty new to flower gardening, as well. This is the third year that I've managed to not kill everything I've tried to grow. I'm exceedingly (and embarrassingly) proud of this. I live in the Columbus, Ohio area.

I live in an apartment with a sizeable North-facing balcony that gets some morning and late afternoon sun. So....lots of impatiens (common, New Guinea, Double), begonias and several geraniums - all in containers. Lovely, but a bit boring. About a month ago, desperate for something that actually has a scent and doesn't require full sun, I acquired a Cestrum Nocturnum from Hirt's via Amazon.com. What arrived was a healthy cutting plant in a 4 inch starter pot with two stalks measuring about 11" and 14" respectively with several leave and, obviously, no blooms. She was adorable and immediately stole my heart. I gave her the French name Joli. I repotted her two weeks ago in a 5 inch ceramic pot.

I was concerned about how the plant would do given the limited amount of sun I receive on my balcony but I am thrilled to report that the plant seems to be thriving. Both stalks have grown about 3 inches (WOW!!!), new stalks with leaves are shooting out from the base of the plant. I am enjoying every second of watching my "baby" mature. I've really fallen in love with this plant.

I was told that, often, small plants won't bloom the first year especially if the conditions aren't optimal (which mine aren't). Even so, I've been very pleased with the new leaves that are sprouting from the top part and base of the plant. But, imagine my surprise when I took a close look at my plant yesterday and saw what APPEARS to be a different type of growth coming out of the last third part of the stems (picture attached). Perhaps these are just new leaf buds, but they seem different somehow and I'm REALLY hoping that they are new flower buds.

I've tried to search the web to see if someone, somewhere had posted pictures of baby buds, but couldn't find any; so I thought I'd pose my question here. Leaf buds or flower buds? I'd appreciate any opinions and advice anyone can offer.

Thank you!

-Mashavu

This message was edited Jun 13, 2015 9:39 AM