Osmanthus Fragrans - Fragrant Tea Olive

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About Osmanthus Fragrans (Fragrant tea olive tree)

Osmanthus fragrans is a member of the olive family and is sometimes also referred to as the tea olive, fragrant olive and tea olive tree. This charming, evergreen shrub has highly aromatic flowers that bloom in spring and sporadically throughout autumn. Flowers are creamy white to yellow in color and have a delightfully sweet fragrance with notes of apricot. While the osmanthus tea olive shrub is highly attractive to bees and other pollinators, this plant can also be kept as a specimen plant or grown in an informal or formal hedgerow for extra garden privacy.

Osmanthus fragrans is an easy to keep plant that is ideal for beginning gardeners and seasoned growers alike. It can look lovely in a wide variety of garden styles, including cottage gardens and minimalist landscape designs. To enjoy the fragrant flowers, try planting your fragrant olive near a back patio or doorway so that you can relish the sweet aroma every time you visit your garden!

Tea Olive
Botanical Name	Osmanthus fragrans
Plant Hardiness	Zone 8-11
Mature Height	10-20'
Mature Width	10-14'
Sun Needs	Full Sun, Partial Shade
Does Not Ship To	AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, PR

Special features:

• Fragrant flowers
• Attracts bees and other pollinators
• Adaptable to full sun or part shade
• Evergreen foliage
• Creates natural privacy screen
• Drought tolerant

Fragrant tea olive tree care

Osmanthus fragrans or tea olive trees are adaptable plants that can be grown in many different garden settings. These plants can be allowed to grow naturally or they can be pruned regularly to maintain a tidier look, form a neat hedgerow or espalier or produce a smaller, more compact shape. In cooler climates, tea olives can also be grown in containers and overwintered indoors. To learn more about tea olive tree care, follow along with the simple growing tips below!

When to plant tea olive

The best time to plant tea olive trees is in autumn when temperatures are cool and rainfall is abundant. Sowing your plant at this time will allow roots to develop over the winter and encourage more vigorous springtime growth. You can sow this plant at other times of the year as well, but you will need to provide more frequent waterings to help your plant settle into your garden. If possible, choose an overcast day when the weather is cool to do your planting in order to avoid plant stress and other issues.

Where to plant tea olive

Tea olive trees can grow in full sun to part shade, which makes them a good choice to position towards the back of garden beds or in the middle of your landscape for lots of impact. While these plants grow best in rich, well-draining soil, they can also thrive in clay-heavy gardens.

In hot locations, select a spot in your garden that receives some afternoon shade to improve the look and growth of your osmanthus fragrans.

If you live in a cool climate, you may want to grow osmanthus fragrans shrubs in containers and overwinter them indoors. For best results, select a container that is 8 to 12” wider than your plant’s root ball so you won’t need to repot your plant for a few years. Also make sure that whatever pot you choose has adequate drainage holes to prevent soggy soil and root rot.

How to plant tea olive

To plant your tea olive, dig a hole that is as deep as your root ball and 2 to 3 times as wide. While it’s not necessary, you may want to amend the soil with a bit of compost or aged manure before backfilling in your planting hole to give your new plant an extra nutrient boost.

After planting, water your new osmanthus fragrans in well and then continue watering and fertilizing your plant during the first few seasons of growth. This will help your plant to establish a strong root system. Osmanthus plants should be fertilized in spring and they can be pruned in February or March to neaten up lines and remove any wayward branches.

How big do tea olive trees get?

When fully mature, tea olive trees can grow between 10 and 20’ tall, but they can be kept more compact with frequent pruning. They will also stay smaller when grown in pots. Due to their size, these plants make an ideal privacy hedge or garden screen and they will grow best when located towards the rear of planting designs so they don’t block the light from reaching smaller plants.

History of the fragrant tea olive tree

The fragrant tea olive is native to Asia and it can be found growing in the wilds of Japan, Thailand, China and the Himalayan mountains. Prized for its richly fragrant flowers, the tea olive tree has been grown as an ornamental in Asian gardens for centuries. This plant has gained popularity in other parts of the globe too and it’s now a common sight in gardens throughout Europe and North America. Over the years, certain cultivars of the tea olive have been carefully bred to favor particular characteristics, such as bloom color and fragrance intensity. Interestingly, the name “osmanthus” comes from the Greek words “osme-" for “fragrant” and “-anthos” for flower.

In addition to being an attractive plant, the fragrant tea olive is an important, symbolic plant in certain cultures. In China, sweet osmanthus is frequently used as part of the Mid-Autumn Festival and the flowers were steeped into wines, teas and jams. According to Chinese legend, a sweet osmanthus tree grows in space and it needs to be pruned often to keep it from overshadowing the moon!

Buying Osmanthus Fragrans at Cold Creek Nurseries

All our plants are carefully grown from stem cuttings to preserve the original plant’s characteristics, growth habit and other features. Order your own fragrant tea olive shrub today and enliven your garden with a rich and bewitching fragrance that is truly one of a kind!