October's Flower of the Month

Sweet Olive

Osmanthus fragrans

Blossoms of the hardy tea olive are visually inconsequential, but their impact can be significant. The strong fragrance can be smelled from several hundred feet away. Tiny white flowers bloom in clusters along the stems. Leaves are dark, glossy green, arranged oppositely on the stem, and may be finely toothed or smooth.  

Sweet olive blooms during the cool season. Expect it to bloom in late fall and again in early spring. If winters are mild, it blooms most of the season. 

Culture Sweet olive does best in fertile, moist, well-drained, slightly acid soil. Sunlight or partial shade suits it well. Sometimes when old specimens have become too large as shrubs, they may be reclaimed as small evergreen trees by removing the lower branches. A wind-resistant, long-lived shrub with few plant pests, it is often found in old gardens of the South. 

Comments

O. fragrans var. aurantiacus is a variety with striking yellowish orange flowers. It has larger, coarser-textured foliage then the regular sweet olive, and new growth is reddish bronze. 

The South is fortunate to have its own native sweet olive (Osmanthus americanus), commonly called devilwood or wild olive. It ranges from southeastern Louisiana eastward to Florida and north to Virginia. Normally it is associated with moist, fertile, acid soil but is tolerant of most conditions. Small, cream-colored flowers are not showy, but they are somewhat fragrant. Blooms are present in March and April. Dark blue berries about one-half inch in diameter ripen in September and provide food for birds and small mammals.

Say: os-MAN-thus FRAY-granz

Hardiness: USDA Zones 7B-9 

Salt tolerance: Slight

Family: Oleaceae (Olive)

Size: 10-15 ft. tall/8-10 ft. wide

 Other common names: Sweet osmanthus, tea olive, hardy tea olive

Origin: Asia

Relatives: Osmanthus americanus (Devilwood); Forsythia ×intermedia (Forsythia)

Propagation: Medium wood cuttings