Plant in full sun along the coast to part sun or light shade and water regularly to occasionally. Hardy to temperatures down to 15 to 20F and useful in USDA Zones 8b and above. It does not do well with reflected heat or hot drying winds, but is pretty resistant to predation by deer. The glossy leaves make it a clean and nice looking shrub, but the sweetly fragrant small white flowers that perfume the air makes it a wonderful addition for any garden where it can be a specimen plant, used as a hedge por screen or trained as a small tree and makes a good container specimen.

Sweet Olive is native to Asia from the Himalayas east through southern China (Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunnan), Taiwan, southern Japan and south into Cambodia and Thailand. The name for the genus comes from the Greek words 'osme' meaning "fragrant" and "anthos" meaning "flower" and the specific epithet means fragrant. It is also commonly known as Fragrant Osmanthus, Sweet Osmanthus, Tea Olive and Fragrant Olive. We have grown this wonderful plant since the when the nursery opened in 1979. 

The information displayed on this page about Osmanthus fragrans is based on the research we conducted about it in our nursery horticultural library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include some of our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens that we have visited, as well how the crops have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with additional information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.