Fragrant Orange Tea Olive – Osmanthus Fragrans Aurantiacus – 7 Gallon Pot (3-4′)

Fragrant Orange Tea Olive

Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a–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 a solid hedge; 14′ or more for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form:  Bushy, Upright

Growth Rate:  Moderate, Fast

Flower Color:  Bright Orange

Flower Size:  Tiny, 1/8″ in clusters

Flowering Period:  Fall

Flower Type:  Single, in clusters

Fragrant Flowers:  Yes, extremely fragrant!

Foliage Color:  Dark Green

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 – 7.5 (Acid to Slightly Acid)

Maintenance / Care:  Average to Low

Attracts:  Visual Attention

Resistances:  Deer, Disease, Drought, Dry Soil, Heat, Insect

Description

A cousin of the white-flowering Tea Olive, the Orange Tea Olive produces the same sweetly fragrant flowers but in a wonderful creamy orange color. Due to the presence of carotenoids in the flowers, some say that the Orange Tea Olive has a more pleasant fragrance than the white. We’ve smelled them both. It might be all in our head, but we think the orange does smell a little sweeter, like candy. There are other subtle differences as well. The leaves of the Orange Tea Olive are a little darker green and are larger and longer than those of white. No need to plant this one near windows as one plant can fill a back or front yard with sweet aroma! That said, of course you can plant one near a window or outdoor living spaces where the fragrance and pretty flowers can be enjoyed from closer up. The flowers of the Orange Tea Olive are edible and also used in perfumes. In China, they use these flowers to scent black or green teas and also use it in perfumery. You’ll see why when you plant one!

Landscape & Garden Uses

With an upright rounded form 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide (depending on pruning), the Orange 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, or to frame corners or fill voids between widely-spaced windows in home foundation plantings. As this tea olive grows taller, which it does rather quickly, lower branches can be removed to form a highly attractive small tree that is ideal for use as a focal point specimen tree in sunny to partially shaded landscape borders and home foundation plantings. A fine addition to fragrance gardens, orange theme gardens and Asian gardens.

Suggested Spacing:  5 to 6 feet apart for a solid hedge;  14 feet or more apart for space between plants

Cultural Preferences

The Orange Tea Olive is very easy to grow in most any moist but well-drained soil of average fertility 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.

Note: We list Orange Tea Olive as cold hardy to USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 7a, where low winter temperatures can but rarely go down to 5 to 10F. That said, we have an Orange Tea Olive in our gardens since 2005 that survived 3F during the winter of 2013 with no problems. Based on this experience, we think the Orange Tea Olive may be cold hardy to Zone 6b, where low winter temperatures can go down to -5 to 0F. That said, if you are in Zone 6b and would like to try growing the Orange Tea Olive year round outdoors, to be on the safe side, we suggest providing protection for young plants when temperatures are forecast to drop below 10 degrees.
SEE: How To Protect Outdoor Plants From Severe Cold Temperatures

Helpful Articles

Click on a link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant, fertilize, prune and water 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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