Sweet Olive, Fragrant Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans)

Sweet Olive, Fragrant Tea Olive
Osmanthus fragrans

The sweet olive tree provides blooms and fragrance several times a year. Shown here with its tiny blooms in early February. (San Antonio, Tx.)

Hazel, I wish this was a scratch and sniff picture! The leaves look nice and glossy and dark green compared to others I've seen. Can't wait for a cutting of it (of course, I will have to, it is 10 degrees right now). When we swap cuttings, will it be okay to send 2 or 3 pieces? I like a little insurance, sometimes they all root, and sometimes they don't.
Susan

Susan, I must have planted these in just the right spot (by accident, not knowledge of the tree!). They are growing on the east side of my house as understory trees beneath a huge oak tree and against a privacy fence. So, they receive very filtered sunlight with a bit of full sun where it manages to hit the trees briefly on their edged and tops. In the afternoon, they are practically in full shade due to another oak tree and a huge figtree. The one receiving more sunlight is larger then the other 2. So, I guess that they would all be larger with more sun, but I like them the way they are. They are deep, deep green and are of course evergreen. I have done very little shaping because their "umbrella" is not very wide and their growth habit dmakes it unnecessary. I have left, most of the branches from about 4 feet up from the ground. As an extra bonus, I have never seen them attacked by any insects. Altough the blooms are tiny and in small bunches, almost inconspicuous from a distance, the aroma is heavenly. They bloom at least twice a year. I adore these trees. I will take some cuttings now and attempt to root them before I send them. I am rooting several other things now even though I have to still protect them from freezes. Hazel

Thank you Hazel!
4 of the yellow crossandra seedlings came up this week so far, so with luck (don't lose any) you will be getting one of those this spring. I plan to use them as bedding plants for shady areas, keeping a few cuttings for succeeding years each fall. I also had to lop off a piece of my Caricature plant (Graptophyllum pictum) and it is rooting if you want it. It is frost tender, though, so it would have to come in for the winter. Temps under 50 degrees make it wilt. Just let me know. I will be cutting the bougainvillea back later this month and will stick the cuttings to try and get them to root...never tried it at this time of year before. It is time for the weather to warm up...I often have crocus and maybe even some early daffodils by now. Instead, we still have solidly frozen ground under several inches of snow.
Our garden club is going to St. Louis this week to the Missouri Botanical Garden for the Orchid Show. That should be a nice break!

Your welcome, Susan. The Caricature plantwould be nice. I had to prune back my bougainvillea when the freezes started because they are in containers and with all of the thorns, they were to cumbersome to carry in and out. The one in a very large container I just wrapped in frost protection cloth. It has started blooming right on the tips where I had cut it. Usually it does not bloom until putting on a lot of new growth after I prune it in late February or early March. This is strange.

But, a lot of my perennial are starting to sprout back out. It is too early for this to happen because a hard freeze is still likey to occur. If it does, these plants will be set back in their growth and bloomimg cycle. I took seeds from an ornamental pepper that I thought had died back and then pulled it up. I really felt bad because it had new growth emerging that I had not seen. I apologized to it and replanted it. I think what has happened is that we have not had any temperatures in the mid 20s and any freezing temperatures have only lasted a few hours. Lots of my perennials have not frozen back even. I can't imagine frozen ground and several inches of snow. I worked in the yard all day yesterday. It was in the middle 50s and I thought it was a bit chilly. I hope you guys thaw out soon.

I know what you mean about plants starting new growth and then a cold spell setting them back...that is usually the normal scenario here all spring. I have learned to keep a very heavy leaf mulch on as long as possible for tender plants like hostas, bleeding hearts, and cannas so that they do not emerge too soon. I have even had daffodils and hyacinths freeze and ruin in late cold spells. But with the prolonged cold this year, maybe when spring arrives, it will stay here. The only yard work we are doing is splitting and carrying in firewood...

The best spring blooms we ever had was after a 10 inch snow one year. I had been very worried about it, but no ill effects were evident. No yard work for me today. One cold front moved through last night and another is coming through later in the week. It's not that cold, but it is raining. I had predicted ice for last week, but it did not freeze. I had predicted in the summer we would receive snow around the 15th. It could snow later in the week according to the weather forecasters here (but what do they know!) if the cold moves far enough down south. The lows are predicted to be in the middle 30s but could drop lower. If it does, I was close to predicting it. I hope it doesn't freeze because of the perennials coming out. I might have to go by some more mulch and cover their new growth. I just put all of my tender plants back outside yesterday, naturally.

wow... everybody in here knows about gardening, i envy that, im a begginer dying to have a beautiful garden... I finally bought my first house in alabama ( at age 40 ) ... took forever but i GOT it now*S*...i have lots of windows and i need to smell my flowers when i open my windows , ( i come from hawaii) and i so miss fragrant lei's... any sugesstions as to what to plant next to my windows? please email me at ffilipinarush@yahoo.com. ill apreciate it.(i know nothing about true gardening ) and maintaining. but im ready.