Fragrant Orange Tea Olive
Osmanthus fragrans aurantiacus
Plant Details
USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a–10b Find Your Zone
Plant Type:Â Evergreen Flowering Shrub or Small Tree
Height at Maturity:Â 10-15′
Width at Maturity:Â 6-8′
Spacing: Â 5-6′ for a solid hedge; 14′ or more for space between plants
Growth Habit / Form:Â Bushy, Upright
Growth Rate:Â Moderate, Fast
Flower Color:Â Bright Orange
Flower Size:Â Tiny, 1/8″ in clusters
Flowering Period:Â Fall
Flower Type:Â Single, in clusters
Fragrant Flowers:Â Yes, extremely fragrant!
Foliage Color:Â Dark Green
Fragrant Foliage:Â No
Berries: Â No
Berry Color:Â NA
Sun Needs:Â Full to Mostly Sun, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade, Morning Shade with Afternoon Sun
Water Needs: Â Average, Very Low when established
Soil Type:Â Clay (Amended), Loam, Sandy, Silty
Soil Moisture / Drainage:Â Well Drained Moist to Dry when established
Soil pH:Â 5.5 – 7.5 (Acid to Slightly Acid)
Maintenance / Care:Â Average to Low
Attracts:Â Visual Attention
Resistances:Â 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: Â 5 to 6 feet apart for a solid hedge;Â 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…Â
How To Plant A Tea OliveÂ
How To Fertilize A Tea Olive
How To Prune Prune A Tea Olive Shrub Or Tree
Plant Long & Prosper!
Questions? Â Contact Us
When I was finally able to purchase this tree, after receiving HOA approval, it was out of stock. I put my name on a waiting list, hoping to be contacted. I did call to see when it might be back in inventory, but was sadly told they had no idea. I impatiently waited weeks and to my surprise was notified that the tree was available. I looked online and discovered that the price had increased by $50 – from $200 to $250! Since a friend was planting my tree, I had to ensure the arrival of the tree matched his availability. When I ordered the tree a week later, I was happy to discover that the tree was now back to its original price.
The tree was packaged very carefully and well protected. It took me 30 minutes to remove the staples from the heavy duty cardboard box. There was also packaging around the root ball. The tree looked very healthy and the root ball was moist.
The tree was planted according to the detailed instructions on the website. It is thriving and I can’t wait for it to bloom.
One additional comment – I found a coupon code for $10 off and forgot to use it when purchasing the tree. I contacted customer support and they immediately wrote me and credited me the $10. In my mind, Wilson Brothers knows how to win over a customer. Would I do business with this company again – absolutely!————————————————-Wow! Thanks for the kind words and wonderful review! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG
When it was delivered I had to struggle with that stout delivery box and finally opened box and got the plant out. I repeat the word struggle as I was afraid I would hurt plant by removing it FROM THAT BOX.. I have to exclaim what a superb plant INCLUDING THE ROOTS. I was almost ” too busy with joy” to plant this plant.————————————————-Thanks so much 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
This was a Christmas present to myself, and believe me, I was not disappointed at all!
I can’t say enough, shrub arrived packaged with care, as always.
You guys rock!—————————————-Merry Christmas to you! 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























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