PlantFiles: Sweet Olive, Fragrant Tea Olive
Osmanthus fragrans 'Aurantiacus'

I grew up in Shreveport, La. Throughout my youth I recall the sweet odor of this plant in several seasons, most notably in the fall. I never knew where this odor came from until a friend in Shreveport gave me a small sweet olive as a gift. She told me of the frequent blooming and wonderful odor of this plant . I immediately recognized the story as the smell from my childhood. I planted the small plant close to my home in direct sunlight. I live in middle Tennessee with a climate zone of @ 6a. The plant has thrived, much to my delight! It now has 1.5-2 inch diameter base and is currently in full bloom throughout its eight foot height. I hope to someday fill the meadow here with the sweetness of this plant.

Mine is blooming now. One of the most wonderfully powerful fragrances I've ever had the pleasure of smelling. Year in and out, always incredible. How can such small orange flowers put out such a massive scent?

The rest of the year...it's just an evergreen foundation plant, anchoring a corner of my house. When it's in bloom, everyone in the area knows it, even if you can't really see the flowers unless you're standing beside the shrub/tree.

Mine is about 8-10 ft high. I do prune it to keep it from getting too wide, but I don't try to control the height. Absolutely bullet proof: no problems of any kind and no drought or winter has changed its appearance or hardiness an iota. No supplemental watering period, ever.

I allow very few "aliens" into my yard/garden...this is one of the exceptions. Not just because of the sublime fragrance: he's "grandfathered" in since I planted him before I converted exclusively (almost) to North American native plants. If he ever comes in late or slack with that incredible fragrance, however, he's in jeopardy: I could replace him with a native osmanthus or cyrilla in a minute! :)