This fragrant, flowering evergreen shrub delights the senses.
What’s thatfragrance perfuming the garden air?
This species belongs to the genusOsmanthus.Osmanthusspecies are drought-tolerant, evergreen shrubs that thrive in full sun or partial shade.
Credit: Masao Akiyama / Sebun Photo/Getty Images
Their calling card is their deeplyfragrant blooms, which appear throughout the year.
The flowers appear as tiny, white blossoms, but their size belies their big, floral perfume.
Bloom is heaviest in spring, but plants flower sporadically throughout the year."
Most are large shrubs that can eventually reach the size of a small tree.
Use them as tall screens, hedges, or foundation plantings.
Somewhat resistant to damage by browsing deer.
Here is everything you better know about growing and caring for tea olive in the South.
Light
Tea olive grows best in full sun to partial shade and is known to be drought-tolerant.
Soil
Plant tea olive in moist, well-drained soil with a neutral to acidic pH.
Tea olive wont do as well in soil that holds too much water; it will cause root rot.
Temperature and Humidity
Tea olive love our Southern heat and humidity and will do well planted here.
This shrub does not like arid conditions.
‘Orange Supreme’ is a well-shaped plant with bright orange blossoms.O.
Here is more info on some of our favorite tea olive species.
(Devilwood)Zones US, MS, LS, CS; USDA 6-9.
Native to Mexico, and from North Carolina to Florida and Mississippi.
Grows rather slowly to 1525 ft. tall and 1520 ft. wide, though it may eventually become much larger.
Neat, upright, oval form.
Handsome, leathery, shiny olive- green foliage: smooth-margined leaves to 7 in.
long, 212 in.
Creamy flowers in spring; dark blue, 12-in.
fruit in early fall.
O.xburkwoodii.Zones US, MS, LS; USDA 6-8.
Slow growing to 68 ft. tall and wide.
Densely clothed in 1- to 2-in., glossy, bright green, tooth-edged leaves.
Makes a good hedge.
(Delvay Osmanthus)Zones MS, LS, CS; USDA 7-9.
Slow-growing, graceful plant with arching branches; reaches 612 ft. tall and wide.
Dark green, oval, tooth-edged leaves to 1 in.
Blooms profusely in spring, bearing clusters of four to eight blossoms (blooms are 12 in.
widethe largest of any osmanthus).
Good choice for foundation plantings.
Handsome on retaining walls where branches can hang down.
Does best in partial shade.
(Fortune’s Osmanthus)Zones MS, LS, CS; USDA 7-9.
Oval, 4-inch leaves resemble those of holly (Ilex).
Extremely fragrant flowers in autumn.
(Sweet Olive, Tea Olive)Zones LS, CS, TS; USDA 8-11.
Native to China, Japan, Himalayas.
Long a favorite of Southern gardeners.
Broad, dense, compact.
Oval, glossy, medium green leaves to 4 in.
long, toothed or smooth edged.
Flowers are powerfully fragrant, with a scent like that of ripe apricots.
Bloom is heaviest in spring, but plants flower sporadically throughout the year.
Pinch out growing tips of young plants to induce bushiness.
(Holly Osmanthus)Zones US, MS, LS, CS; USDA 6-9.
Resembles English holly (Ilex aquifolium), but leaves are opposite one another on stems rather than alternate.
Fragrant white flowers in late fall and winter are followed by berrylike, blue-black fruit.
Useful as a hedge.
If you do prune, make this a spring activity before the plant starts to leaf out.
Tea olive blooms in the fall and smells especially fragrant after a rain when the humidity level is high.
It is a naturalfall-blooming shrub.
For climbers, there’s alwaysclimbing roses,wisteria, and clematis.
Heavenly scented jasmine is an evergreen vine that can also be used as a ground cover.
Deeply fragrant’Honey Perfume' rosesare a deciduous shrub option, while intensely scentedgardeniasare a Southern classic, evergreen shrub.
