PlantFiles: Sweet Olive, Fragrant Tea Olive
Osmanthus fragrans

I moved to Lafayette, La with my family in 1958 when I was 8 yrs old. The first house we rented had a 5' tall, bushy sweet olive near the window of my parents bedroom and the devine fragrance of it, always seemingly covered in small white flowers, stayed with me. A few years ago, maybe in 2002, I was looking for something new to put in the ground near the patio of our house in San Antonio, Tx. I thought of that sweet olive and found a 2' tall specimen and planted it. It didn't take long to bloom and the smell never fails to take me back to summer nights in Lafayette. In Oct 2006 I went back to Lafayette and that sweet olive is still there, standing about 25' tall, though the house has been long abandoned. My own plant is now about 8' tall.

I have uploaded a couple of pictures of my Osmanths, planted about 11 years ago from a 1 gallon can.

I just bought this plant today and went to do some research and found this site! I went ahead and marked it Positive, because I'm "positive" I'm going to love it, LOL.

I live in Katy, TX and have one of those "blank" yards--the subdivision was built on former rice fields, so the only thing that came with the house was a bit of shrubbery and two twigs posing as oak trees. Not a plant in the back yard. I'm starting to fill it a bit at a time, but I'm a junior gardener, so it's been a lot of trial and error.

Someone mentioned Sweet Olive being hard to find, but I found mine at WalMart (in Katy) of all places! They had many and they were only about $7 for a gallon pot. I love "smelly" plants and I'm thinking about going to purchase a few more. Also, I make candles and have had this intriguing fragrance called Osmanthus for some time now--if the flowers on this plant smell anything like that fragrance I want to fill my yard up with them!

We recently moved to Duncan, SC and we kept noticing the nice fragrance from this plant in our new yard. I asked someone at a local nursery about it and got the name and other information. It seems to be doing quite well here, but mine have fewer flowers than the ones at the nursery. This may be due to the dry weather we've had here over the last few months. The house was vacant for several months and the plants did not get watered. The plants are doing equally well on both the eastern and western sides of the house.

This is a shrub that I can't do without. Imagine a fragrance that stirs memories of sipping tea in China and walking New Orleans' Garden DIstrict at the same time? Here in Zone 9a it is entirely carefree and robust and blooms appear sporatically throughout the year except for the coldest months of winter.

This plant has the quintessential smell of New Orleans, more than coffee roasting or gumbo bubbling away on the stove. Every time I walk past my Osmanthus fragrans and catch a hint of its apricot fragrance, I am instantly transported back to Uptown New Orleans and the muggy September day I went to live in the Crescent City.

That said, my osmanthus grows well in my part of Oakland, California, but it has never once flowered with the abundance I remember from Louisiana. Still, its foliage is attractive enough and it provides an excellent privacy screen for my patio.

An enthusiastic thumbs up for this plant. I have 10 planted around my yard. A couple are meant to grow as big as they will, and the rest will be trimmed periodically as a formal hedge. Fragrance is lovely.

When I first started gardening, I had the fortunate experience of learning about these in an article in Southern Living magazine and I placed them on my want list for the reported fragrance. A few years ago, I was very delighted and surprised to find them as 1 gallons at Wal-mart of all places and they are currently 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 have many and that is still not enough. 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. I have returned to the local Wal-mart's each spring hoping to once again find them and it appears that I just struck gold the first time and will have to learn how to propagate them myself, which I will gladly do. The younger shrubs do bloom, and smell wonderful, but not as fully as some of the older ones I've seen pictured, so I have hope for the future of mine to grow large and do this as well. Susan

There is no doubt that fragrances evoke memories..this one's full of great memories for me. There have been several Huge specimens of this tree in my life , my great-grandmother and grandmothers all had it around their houses. My Aunt keeps them trimmed as shrubs around her house -what a wonderful entry-way. I just recently brought home some rooted pieces from my family-home to grow at my present home and can't wait for them to grow. A sweet olive tree I planted in highschool had another tree fall on it (from Katrina), everywhere it's branches where touching the soil- it rooted.

If I could scatter the flowers of this plant before me where I walk, I would. It smells THAT good!

This very easy plant to grow doesn't depend on diligent care. It flowers off and on at any point in time, whether I feed it or not.

I have it in a window that doesn't face south so it's not even getting that much sun but it's very rewarding in these conditions, I can't wait to see how it'll do in better conditions.

I haven't noticed any pests at all and it's not particular about potting and watering needs. I would say I let it dry between waterings.

Last year, I left a small potted plant outside through the winter and it didn't survive but next year I want to experiment and see whether I can push the hardiness with a field plant and some mulching and wrapping.

Growing outside is very easy. It loves hot full sun. Just make sure the soil doesn't get too dry.

I planted three tea olives about three years ago, here in the Atlanta area. I have done nothing to any of them, nor have I had to water or fertalize them. They are great self sufficient plants. One that I had put into an odd area near a tree has grown to my second story close to the house. The upper ends have finally reached my kitchen windows. I took out the tree because the tea olive well serves the purpose of the tree with its height and all year-round good looks. It was a mild winter here, so all three gained more size this year than they have in the past. One was in a pot for two years, but once I put it into the ground, it thrived much better.

I just bought three more for my front yard as an experiment, for the ground between the sidewalk and street, with clumps of shorter plants inbetween. I'm hoping to make them a sort of hedge to block view of a parking lot. They were expensive though, $10 for one gallon plants, and they are really small. Its full sun and hot, whereas my back yard gets less direct unrelenting sun. I have changed out the plants in that spot three times, since nothing seems to work well. I'm hoping they will be as carefree as the ones in my back yard. I'm also hoping to attract compliments from my neighbors.

Also one of my very favorites. Right in the middle of zone A-B here, I've had it for four years on an unprotected position on a hot and dry hilltop where winter's gotten down to single digits for a few days at a time. It got some leaf burn at those temps but no dieback. It's only about 5-6' tall so far, though.

People are saying this is slow growing but not for me. I trim off about 2 ft a year because I don't want them to be a big tree. Mine are about 7 years old and about 12 ft before I trim them, about 4 ft across. If I just let them grow I'm sure my tea olives would be around 20 ft by 8-10 ft by now. I do nothing to them but trim them up.

When I open my back door in the dead of winter and everything else is dead or barely hanging on, the wonderful scent of sweet olive hits us in the face and it almost feels like spring is in the air. One of my favorite plants.

One of my favorites. Got it in the autumn and it has been blooming on and off. One of the best fragrances.

I bought three of these to go on the side of the deck with a 'Ronald Reagan' rose bush. The deck is fairly high. I didn't realize they grow up into a tree or else I would have just bought one. I'll have to keep it trimmed off the deck. I hope it doesn't kill it.

I gathered seed from my neighbor's luxuriant bushes just now (December 2) in Sacramento, CA. The seed pods have to ripen on the plant and burst open. Then you have to beat the birds and critters to them because they are red and covered with a sweet sticky substance birds love. Most of the seeds get eaten, so you almost never see seed pods on Osmanthus Fragrans into the winter. I only discovered this because I have been watching these bushes like a hawk for seeds. The seeds have to be planted in a coldframe or greenhouse immediately. Will let you all know what happens in the Spring! This is a flower fragrance to die for!!

We went to Tryon Palace historic gardens and found this great smelling shrub. they were very large over 10 ft.The horticulturist said sweet olive. So we went right out and bought one (for $16) Doing great so far, and smells great!

Morehead City, NC

Moved into a new home last Dec. { Charleston SC} Around late Feb or March began smelling something wonderful whenever I had my front windows open. Nothing in the flower beds except a plain looking bush with tiny little blooms..

Finally a freind stopped by who runs a nursery and solved the mystery. I was lucky enough to have Tea Olives in my yard. I plan on planting several more in my backyard around the patio.

I have good luck rooting semi-hardwood cuttings in a cutting bed with equal parts of loam, compost and Perlite. You cannot rush them. It takes a while to strike roots even with rooting hormones. Air layers are the best way to make new plants.
If the container grown plants fail to bloom, it is most likely that they are pot bound. Try a much larger container.
This is one of my favorite shrubs. It is just as sweet as they say.

I wanted to let everyone know that a wondersul perfume and body powder made from the Tea Olive tree is available. You can find it at Hove' Perfumeur on Royal Street in New Orleans French Quarter. I always go there when I am in that city to buy some. There is a row of Tea Olive trees along Royal Street in the back of the St. Louis Catheral. lbug

My tea olive blossoms are orange, I'm told it is an old variety. I've tried to root new plants several times, in the spring, (small greenhouse)new growth, old growth, with and without root tone, in containers of water. They always die. It is a beautiful plant 12' high now and the aroma is like the white variety, most pleasant, however it does not bloom the entire spring and summer like my whites.It's covered with blooms in the spring only. I am now trying a lower limb pinned into a pot of rooting soil. Will check in fall of year for any roots. Suggestions are welcomed. Will try to upload a picture.

I first fell in love with this plant while living in the French Quarter in New Orleans. I have planted one or more at each house I have lived in since then. They grow very well in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It responds well to fertilization and pruning, but will survive on neglect. The frangrance is intoxicating, a close second to Sandalwood, which I have not had the pleasure to experience since leaving the Florida Keys.

I rented a house in central Louisiana 12 years ago and could not figure out the wonderful frangrance that saturated the air around my house off and on during the year. A neighbor finally told me it was the sweet olive tree on either end of my house (at least 30'). I have moved 4 times since then and have always planted at least one at each home. The best part is I was recently re-united with a friend whom I met during the central Louisiana time and whom I introduced to sweet Olive. We are soon to be married. Maybe because I found that he had planted sweet olives at each corner of his house after we met and parted years earlier as a remembrance of me! That is what a powerful but elusive smell this plant has. This is north Louisiana and they are in the sun most of the day. They now range from 5-12', and require no special care. They are virtually care-free and are in full bloom right now.

extreme northwest Louisiana

Sweet olive grows extremely well in Southern Louisiana, in fact the shrubs are very commonly found growing as small yard trees all over New Orleans where I first fell in love with its fragrance. I have had success growing Sweet Olive in San Diego, California. Recently in Joshua Tree, California, it has been a little more difficult owing to the intense summer sun. But now in its 3rd year, my Sweet Olive has hung on and is doing well although growing very slowly. It blooms when the weather changes and now I am getting ready to plant another on the North side of the house as a center piece. I can't get enough Osmanthus!!!

I planted a tea olive in my suburban Atlanta yard, zone 7b, but it seemed a very slow grower there. I've recently been pricing them here in Northcentral Florida, zone 8b, and the local plant nurseries are actually cheaper than the Walmart garden center for this plant.

I plan to use my future tea olives as an evergreen screen between my property and the house next door, but I haven't bought the plants yet as I have to clear an area for them, and that takes me a lot of time, but I do hope to get the area for them cleared by late winter. The tea olives will be planted in the part shade of an over two hundred year old live oak tree, but they will get some early morning sun from the east, as the neighbors yard is more cleared than mine. I can't wait to smell their lovely fragrance!

March 5, 2004
Bought 5 plants today at $7.00 each--a very reasonable price for 4' to 5' tall plants--from a local nursery. He only had about 15 plants available, and I would have loved to have bought them all!

They are in full bloom and smell heavenly. I will put them in a slight semicircle, about 6' on center, and place a statue against their dark leaves in the center of the semicircle, so this sweet smelling hedge will be both a destination and a visual barrier from the neighbors.

Wonderful, popular and pestfree in this area. Sweet Olive is rather slow growing, but I've seen specimens the size of small Live Oaks.

It is known as a 'barometer plant' because sudden, drastic changes in air pressure cause it to bloom.

I brought two 5-gallon plants home (New Jercy) from CA when I was there for Thanksgiving. I put them in the containers. They are healthy and blossom. My kitchen and family room have sky light and huge windows to let in some sun light for the plants.

The plant is well known in China. Chinese people pick up the most white flowers and process with syrup or honey. They use it to flavor some desserts. The Chinese name of this plant is Qwei-Hua.

I live in zone 6b, Murfreesboro,TN. and I have three of these plants on the side of my driveway. They have been there for over two years. Of course I have to protect these plants every winter with about six inches of mulch around the base of the plant and wrap them several times with burlap but its worth the trouble! Outstanding plant!!

I'm in USDA Zone 9, and I've grown this plant in a container for a couple of years but it has never bloomed even though the plant itself looks healthy enough. It gets morning and afternoon sun but it's not that strong in this part of the country (San Francisco Bay area in California.) From everything I heard, this is supposed to be very easy to grow so I'm quite puzzled.

One of my very favorite plants, it blooms intermittently all year. As a test this year, I bought a new plant and kept it in a pot and regularly watered in a semi-shady spot. This first week of October it was totally covered in flowers, the most I've ever seen. The scent? Apricots!

South of Atlanta, GA.

Osmanthus fragrans does indeed have extraordinary fragrance. I clearly remember the first time I met it, at my friend's house, years ago. She introduced us. I purred. Now I have one and it seems to be happy where I've put it, so I'm hoping for blooms this winter. I am working on another spot where I can put another one. With this plant, more is better. Mine is a casual garden, so messy doesn't usually matter, but Osmanthus isn't messy.

My reference book, Betrock's Reference Guide to Florida Landscape Plants, says this one is hardy through zone 7. As an understory plant, it may well be. It also says this one gets to 20' tall, is propagated by cuttings, that good drainage is necessary, and while the flowers are very fragrant, they are not all that showy.

I haven't grown this plant. However, there is a bog one (I'd guess over 15' tall) outside my house. I am living in Japan and they seem to be everywhere. As others have mentioned it is an intoxicating smell. Very, very pleasant !!!
If one tries to describe it to those who have not had to pleasure to smell it before, likening it to peach tea would be a good comparison.

Only bad side I can see is that is seems to be a bit of a messy plany.

San Antonio, TX

Great as an understory planting under tall oak trees! Mine are about 18 feet tall and require little supplemental water. The fragrance in late winter, early spring and about the first of October is almost enchanting! In 20 years, I have never had to do a thing to these small trees - no pruning, no leaf rack up, no spraying for insect infestations and no fertilization. The deep green foliage is very attractive and the almost delicate appearance contasts nicely with the oak. They should be used more, but they are difficult to find at garden centers. Neighbors and passersby always ask from where the delightful smell is emitting. I tell them and they never have heard of the "sweet olive".

Sweet Olive grows beautifully in Mississippi (U.S.) I was "told" that once a plant reaches 50 years old, it will start producing olives. Fact or fiction, I don't know.

The Tea Olive does very well here in Brooksville, Florida (U.S.)

Tea Olives have legendary fragrance; unfortunately they are not cold hardy for most areas of the country. In ideal climates, they can reach a height of 30' but rarely do since cold snaps usually nip them back.

Can be grown as a container plant in a greenhouse or conservatory.