Sweet olive
Osmanthus fragrans · Oleaceae
A large, dark evergreen whose tiny, almost hidden, creamy flowers have one of the finest scents in the garden, like ripe apricots, in autumn and again in spring.
- Size
- 13 ft tall, 10 ft wide
- Zones
- 8 to 11
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid September to mid November
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around sweet olive
The planner designed this bed around sweet olive when this page was made: a 30 × 14 ft (9.1 × 4.3 m) English border in zone 8, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 872 that suit those conditions, and says below why sweet olive stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Sweet olive × 1, white
- 2 Bloody cranesbill × 8, pink
- 3 Verbena 'Homestead Purple' × 10, purple
- 4 Sasanqua camellia × 1, red
- 5 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 6 Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' × 8, blue
- 7 White mugwort × 4, cream
- 8 Spurge 'Blackbird' × 16, purple leaves
- 9 Sunset hyssop × 8, orange
- 10 Bergenia 'Bressingham White' × 11, white
- 11 Black-eyed Susan × 11, yellow
- 12 Purple coneflower × 8, purple
- 13 Asiatic lily × 6, orange
- 14 Snowdrop × 29, white
Why this plant
- A classic partner for sasanqua camellia. Both are on this plan. A pairing gardeners have proved outranks a general rule.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does sasanqua camellia.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 13 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Italian bugloss 'Dropmore' (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for 9 weeks. From mid September to mid November.
- In company. With verbena 'Homestead Purple', brown-eyed Susan, white mugwort and others in mid September: 6 kinds at once.
- One of four evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 21 of the 22 groups (95%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Hot colours (red, yellow and orange) with pink, purple and blue as the cool notes, and white and cream to calm things between them. The flowering is at its height in mid July, with 7 kinds out together.
The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 7 Good, 1 Satisfactory.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where sweet olive goes in a border
At 13 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is super tall (over 6½ ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
You smell it before you see it. Plant it upwind of where people sit, and let it grow into its natural, upright shape.
- Fragrance near a door, window or path
- Evergreen screening in warm climates
- A large specimen
What to plant with sweet olive
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Sasanqua camellia: in flower together for seven weeks, from early October.
- Gardenia: flowers first, late May to late July, so the spot is never empty; low enough (5 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Lilyturf: flowers first, early August to mid September, so the spot is never empty; low enough (16 in) to stand in front of it.
Questions about sweet olive
Does sweet olive need sun or shade?
Sweet olive grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does sweet olive grow in?
USDA zones 8 to 11. It is hardy to zone 8, which means it survives winter nights down to about 20 °F (−7 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does sweet olive flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid September to mid November. As an autumn flower it keeps much the same dates in every zone: it answers to shortening days and cool nights more than to the warmth of spring.
| Zone 8 | Mid September to mid November |
|---|---|
| Zone 9 | Mid September to mid November |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should sweet olive be planted?
8 ft (250 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 10 ft (300 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 13 ft (400 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many sweet olive plants do I need?
Usually one. At 8 ft (250 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 8 ft apart: two plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is sweet olive poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat sweet olive?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What does sweet olive look like in winter?
Sweet olive keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Osmanthus
- Burkwood osmanthus Osmanthus x burkwoodii
- Holly osmanthus 'Goshiki' Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 13 ft (400 cm) tall, 10 ft (300 cm) wide
- Plant
- 8 ft (250 cm) apart
- Height class
- Super tall (over 6½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid September to mid November; dense clusters; white
- Leaves
- Medium texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Upright, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 8 to 11
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Oleaceae
- Comes from
- East Asia
- Stands up to
- Deer, drought, salt
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.