Raat Ki Rani (Night Jasmine)

رات کی رانی

About this plant

Raat Ki Rani (night jasmine, Cestrum nocturnum) is the shrub that announces evening in Lahore gardens — by day its tiny greenish-white flowers look shy, but after dark they flood a courtyard or street with a heavy, sweet fragrance. It is fast, tough and loves our heat, flowering in repeated flushes from spring to autumn and most of all on warm summer and monsoon evenings. Give it full sun to light afternoon shade, water regularly through the hot months and ease off in winter. It grows into a loose 2–3 m shrub, happy along a boundary wall or in a large pot on a sunny terrace. Plant it near a seating area or gate rather than right under a bedroom window — the night scent is strong. Trim after each flush to keep it bushy, and keep its berries away from children and pets.