Sweet Olive, Fragrant Tea Olive (Osmanthus fragrans)

Sweet Olive, Fragrant Tea Olive
Osmanthus fragrans

OCT 2004

Buffy690,

The tree looks fabulous! How long did it take to get that way? I just bought 2 of them in a 3 gal container.
It will be my first time to plant these. Can you give me an insight on how I could make it successful.
Thanks a million!

pinoy2

This bush/tree grows where there are lots of chicken scratching around all the time. There is a larger one in the back of the house and two that we rooted that are smaller. This particular plant pictured is about 9 years old. We do nothing special, it gets full sun most of the day, with afternoon shade. It sweetens our gatherings on the carport with it's delicious fragrance. I do not know what else you would like to know, it is pretty carefree.

How does your plant withstand the winters? I would LOVE to have mine outside in the ground and get that big. I think I'm in a zone 7b.

This plant gets a good deal of chicken manure, is that helps.
it is planted in clay
and mulched with grass clippings

WOW!! Mine are much smaller and have never been covered like this! How lovely. I purchased them as 1 gallons a few years back from Wal-mart of all places and they are planted to form a privacy hedge along my property. The ones that get supplemental watering from irrigation are certainly larger them those that do not. I plan to attempt propagation this year and want to blanket my back yard with these all along the edges. Mine are planted in shade and sun and both do well.

:)

Susan

This plant has been moved into a much brighter location with a large clump of earth around it and it is blooming like crazy. Our warm spell really has the perfumin all over the yard. I have had inconsistant luck with propagation in the spring and the fall, so I really would be no help in that arena. I do know they make a great showcase plant as well as screening plant but you will have to push them with regular watering and maybe a little fertilizer. We use both watersoluable for foilage plants in between flowering and also one for flowering plants in between. (like one month one kine and then the other the next) we get flower her about every month with an r in it. One plant I have successfullt transplanted here is about as tall as the plant in the picture but I keep it trimmed into a pretty tight column, it still blooms profusely and I can also plant other beautiful things that love the sun around it. I have learned that the tea olice looks exceptionally beautiful after it gets large and treelike underplanted wth, mini hostas of varing varieties, and varing bloom times, one I really like is the stilletto it blooms more than once and does not have the traditional looking hosta leaf. There are quite a number of other small varieties that really create lovely texture.