Fragrant White Tea Olive
Osmanthus fragrans
Plant Details
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7b (7a?) to 10b Find Your Zone
Plant Type: Evergreen Flowering Shrub or Small Tree
Height at Maturity: 10-15′
Width at Maturity: 6-8′
Spacing: 5-6′ for solid hedges; 12′ or more for space between plants
Growth Habit / Form: Upright, Rounded
Growth Rate: Moderate, Fast
Flower Color: White
Flower Size: Tiny, 1/8″
Flowering Period: Spring, Fall, Winter
Flower Type: Single, in clusters
Fragrant Flowers: Yes, extremely fragrant!
Foliage Color: Dark Green, Orange to Red new leaves
Fragrant Foliage: No
Berries: No
Berry Color: NA
Sun Needs: Full to Mostly Sun, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade, Morning Shade with Afternoon Sun
Water Needs: Average, Very Low when established
Soil Type: Clay (Amended), Loam, Sandy, Silty
Soil Moisture / Drainage: Well Drained Moist to Dry when established
Soil pH: 5.5 – 6.5 (Acid to Slightly Acid)
Maintenance / Care: Average to Low
Attracts: Visual Attention
Resistances: Deer – more info, Disease, Drought, Dry Soil, Heat, Insect
Description
Producing an abundance of some of the most wonderfully fragrant flowers in existence, the Fragrant Tea Olive, Osmanthus fragrans, also called Sweet Olive, is an attractive large evergreen shrub or small tree that flowers on and off for up to 6 months out of the year! The flowers are tiny but boy do they pack a fragrant punch! All it takes is one Tea Olive to fill your front or backyard with a heavenly scent of sweet perfume. The scent is really indescribable. No other fragrant plant we know of smells like the Tea Olive. It’s just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. The flowers are produced in both spring and fall and during the winter whenever nighttime temperatures are between about 45 to 65 degrees. In our gardens here in north-central Georgia, the White Tea Olives blooms off and one for about 6 months out of the year, depending on the weather.
Landscape & Garden Uses
With and upright growth habit and rounded form 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide (depending on pruning), the White Tea Olive can be grown as a large shrub or small tree. As a shrub, its dense foliage makes it ideal for use as an evergreen hedge, privacy screen, or background in landscape borders or to frame corners or fill voids between widely-spaced windows in home foundation plantings. As it grows taller, which it does rather quickly, lower branches can be removed to a desired height to form a highly attractive focal point specimen tree for use in sunny to partially shaded landscape borders and home foundation plantings. There’s no need to plant this one near windows as one plant can fill a front or back yard with sweet aroma. A fine addition to fragrance gardens, white theme gardens, Asian gardens and Xeriscape gardens (low water needs).
Suggested Spacing: 5 to 6 feet apart for a solid hedge; 12 feet or more apart for space between plants
Note: For our customers who live and garden North of USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 7b, where this Tea Olive variety is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.
Growing Preferences
The White Tea Olive is very easy to grow in most any average, moist but well-drained soil and full sun to part shade. We suggest at least 5 hours of direct sunlight per day or all-day lightly filtered sun for best flowering. As with many other plants, a constantly soggy or wet soil can be problematic. Exceptionally drought tolerant when established. Over decades, we’ve seen no insect or disease problems and deer won’t touch it.
Helpful Articles
Click on a link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for Tea Olive shrubs and trees.
How To Plant A Tea Olive
How To Fertilize A Tea Olive
How To Prune Prune A Tea Olive Shrub Or Tree
Plant Long & Prosper!
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Questions? Contact Us
Arrived healthy with lots of leaves…cannot wait for it to bloom!————————————Thanks for the awesome review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
I received the Tea Olive and planted it in my yard. I am waiting for the warmer weather in the hope that it will thrive.————————————I’m sure it will. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
Plants arrived quickly in perfect shape. Some of the plants were blooming! I am adding 4 more specimens to finish the look at our fence for beauty & privacy. I can’t wait to see them at maturity!———————————————Thanks for the photo! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
plant is doing great; bloomed in spring–good purchase——————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
Shipping was quick and plant was packaged well, Plant looked very healthy. Have planted it in an area of full sun and have given it deep water but making sure that there is no standing water. Will need to wait till next year for flowers and the wonderful fragrance.———————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
Love it, thank u.——————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂
Beautiful plant. Packaged well and I am thrilled with my purchase. It’s been great purchasing hard to find shrubs at Wilson Bros Gardens. I am a happy Gardner!
Thanks for the quick ship.————————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂
Thanks for the quick ship.————————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂
I was so pleased with the size and condition of the sweet olive plant I ordered from Wilson bros. The delivery was swift and and the packaging was awesome. Thx Wilson Bros??—————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
The plant was beautiful and the shipping was perfect. Would definitely order from you again. Thanks.———————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
Healthy plants arrived well packaged. Very pleased.————————————————I love Nokomis!! We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂
This is one of several items I have ordered from Wilson Bros & each one has arrived healthy & carefully packaged for shipment. I recommend this company to anyone & will continue to purchase from them.—————————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂
Well packaged, healthy; —————————————————We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Beth | WBG 🙂
I was searching the web for sweet olive plants and found this company. I did not know anything about them, but took a chance and ordered a one-gallon plant for future delivery.
Everything from there on is a testament to the high standards maintained by Wilson Bros Gardens. My plant arrived a few days early, and was so well wrapped that I spent about 20 minutes getting it unpacked. There is no way the plant could have been harmed, even if it had been shipped upside-down. A certificate of health came with my plant, plus a request to inspect it and report any problems. The plant is in perfectly healthy condition. Also, this company supplies lots of information on planting and culture of their plants. Anyone who follows all these instructions is certain to be successful.
I find myself going to their website to learn about plants that I already have. I will certainly purchase more plants from Wilson Brothers. They obviously are passionate about gardening.————————————–Wow!! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
Everything from there on is a testament to the high standards maintained by Wilson Bros Gardens. My plant arrived a few days early, and was so well wrapped that I spent about 20 minutes getting it unpacked. There is no way the plant could have been harmed, even if it had been shipped upside-down. A certificate of health came with my plant, plus a request to inspect it and report any problems. The plant is in perfectly healthy condition. Also, this company supplies lots of information on planting and culture of their plants. Anyone who follows all these instructions is certain to be successful.
I find myself going to their website to learn about plants that I already have. I will certainly purchase more plants from Wilson Brothers. They obviously are passionate about gardening.————————————–Wow!! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
The first tree arrived a little bruised (not the fault of the company but of the shipper). I took a picture and contacted Wilson Bro’s and they immediately sent me a new tree in pristine condition! It looks even better than the picture and has been a joy to have in the house.—————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG-
I like, this plant because it offers an eventual screen between the neighbor’s yard, while yet offering pruning to shape it in an artistic way. I placed it in between, a nana holly & sky pencil hollies. A screen, while not totally cutting out the sunlight and/or view. Oh, and its planted close enough to windows, where I can see and smell the flowers from indoors.———————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
very pleased with quality of plant and the way it was packaged Wilson Bros really has their act together———————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
Received a very healthy, vibrant plant which is doing very well so far. Can’t wait for it to bloom! I was very happy with the plant I received and it was well packed. I’d recommend this company for its beautiful plants and I’m looking forward to ordering more from them!——————————Thanks for the great review! We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG
This was my first order from this company. The plant arrived on time and i was amazed how well they have packed this plant. The plant looked very healthy and it is doing great. I have ordered from other nurseries and they all ship via UPS , takes long time to get the plant and they arrive in bad shape. Fed X is the way to go.——————————–Thanks for the great review! We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG
My tea olive arrived very quickly. My second order from Wilson Bros and I have been very pleased with their service and the excellent quality of their plants. Thank you!——————————————-Thanks for the great review! We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG
Purchased this for some large pots in front of the house. They arrived promptly and in good condition. Have been in pots for about a month now and are producing new leaves and flowers. Even when there was only a couple of flowers one could smell the fragrance. Looking forward to when they are in full bloom.———————————Thanks for the great review! We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG
The sweet olive arrived today, and so far looks very good! It was still very damp and moist.
Thank you so much!—————————————We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG
Thank you so much!—————————————We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG
I bought a sweet olive tree from you and I couldn’t be happier, it shipped and arrived quickly and it’s such a healthy, lovely little tree! None of the branches broke off during shipping, it was beautifully packed so that the soil couldn’t spill and the tree is just in great shape, little flowers already appearing on it after just 3 days. My brother saw it and asked where I’d found such a nice, healthy little tree! Thank you so much, you exceeded my expectations
Quality of my plant purchase was “very good”. Wilson Brothers Gardens knows how to pack and ship their plants. My husband and I could tell the quality of the plant immediately; we were sad you did not have more in stock. We will purchase more this spring. Thank you Wilson Bros Garden. ————————- WBG Reply: Hi – Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the White tea Olive and for your compliments. We hope you enjoy this fragrant wonder for years to come. Sorry that we’re low on stock on the 3 gallon size of this variety at the moment. We do have some 1 gallon size available. Tea Olive have been in full bloom for a while now in the deep South so we’ve sold loads of them recently. We should have some more available by late winter or very early spring 2019. I added your name to our Waiting List so you’ll receive an email notification as soon as we have the 3 gallon size back in stock. Thanks again and let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens























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