Fragrant White Tea Olive

Osmanthus fragrans

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7b (7a?) to 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 solid hedges; 12′ or more for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Upright, Rounded

Growth Rate: Moderate, Fast

Flower Color: White

Flower Size: Tiny, 1/8″

Flowering Period: Spring, Fall, Winter

Flower Type: Single, in clusters

Fragrant Flowers: Yes, extremely fragrant!

Foliage Color: Dark Green, Orange to Red new leaves

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 – 6.5 (Acid to Slightly Acid)

Maintenance / Care: Average to Low

Attracts: Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer – more info, Disease, Drought, Dry Soil, Heat, Insect

Description

Producing an abundance of some of the most wonderfully fragrant flowers in existence, the Fragrant Tea Olive, Osmanthus fragrans, also called Sweet Olive, is an attractive large evergreen shrub or small tree that flowers on and off for up to 6 months out of the year! The flowers are tiny but boy do they pack a fragrant punch! All it takes is one Tea Olive to fill your front or backyard with a heavenly scent of sweet perfume. The scent is really indescribable. No other fragrant plant we know of smells like the Tea Olive. It’s just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. The flowers are produced in both spring and fall and during the winter whenever nighttime temperatures are between about 45 to 65 degrees. In our gardens here in north-central Georgia, the White Tea Olives blooms off and one for about 6 months out of the year, depending on the weather.

Landscape & Garden Uses

With and upright growth habit and rounded form 10 to 15 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide (depending on pruning), the White 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 in landscape borders or to frame corners or fill voids between widely-spaced windows in home foundation plantings. As it grows taller, which it does rather quickly, lower branches can be removed to a desired height to form a highly attractive focal point specimen tree for use in sunny to partially shaded landscape borders and home foundation plantings. There’s no need to plant this one near windows as one plant can fill a front or back yard with sweet aroma. A fine addition to fragrance gardens, white theme gardens, Asian gardens and Xeriscape gardens (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 5 to 6 feet apart for a solid hedge; 12 feet or more apart for space between plants

Note: For our customers who live and garden North of USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 7b, where this Tea Olive variety is not reliably winter hardy, you’ll be happy to know it can be grown in containers that can be brought indoors during winter and placed back outside when temperatures warm up in spring.

Growing Preferences

The White Tea Olive is very easy to grow in most any average, moist but well-drained soil 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.

Helpful Articles

Click on a link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for 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!

Meet The Wilson Brothers & Staff

Questions? Contact Us

Osmanthus is my favorite evergreen scented bush. It grows great in the PNW and has a wonderful smell that surprises those who are unfamiliar with bush. This is a larger variety than others I own, even better———————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I ordered a tea olive from Wilson Brothers and received it the next day. It was very well packaged and the tree itself was in very great shape, exactly as described. The Wilson brothers site is extremely helpful for planting and advice. This was my first order from this nursery, I ended up ordering a camellia and some Laurel bushes after such a great experience.——————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Arrived in excellent shape. The lovely smell came washing out of the box as soon as it was opened. Lots of new buds and new leave starts on it. Looking forward to watching it grow.——————————————————–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

So far so good. Plant arrives in good packaging condition.——————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Larger than expected plant arrived healthy and ready to be planted. I like the in-depth information on the website. I get the sense that the brothers really love what they do.————————————————————They do love what they do!! 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

Great packaging. Quick delivery. Love your quality and service. Looking forward to the sweet smell of tea olive while sitting on our front porch.——————————————————————We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

Fast shipping, well packaged, and healthy plant with fragrant flowers. Very happy with my purchase.—————————————————————-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

Great healthy plant.———————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Arrived soon and in great condition. I planted it about a week ago and it is doing very well. I am so well pleased, I’ve now ordered azaleas.————————————————-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

I ordered two of these. They arrived in just a few days and they are beautiful and healthy!!!! They are thriving in my yard!————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

This tree arrived on time, in good condition and has been transferred to a 5 gallon pot. These are among the first Tea Olive Trees I have ever ordered and can’t wait for the flowering process to take place.——————————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

I have been ordering plants from Wilson Bros for several years. They arrive promptly, always in great conditions and shipping is free. I couldn’t be more satisfied. My most recent purchase is three tea olives and I look forward to getting them into the ground soon and watching them thrive. Thank you Wilson Bros!——————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Plant was packaged securely, best I’ve seen from online retailers. It arrived healthy and appears to be thriving.—————————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Our plant arrived in very good condition despite delivery delay due to severe weather. So far so good. After planting, it looks healthy and new shoots already.———————————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

These guys are absolutely AMAZING not only do i get beautiful healthy plants but they are here in 3-4 days. I will only buy my online plants from wilsonbrosgardens!!!!!——————————-Wow!! We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Arrived in usual excellent condition.———————————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

My beautiful, 3 gallon, White, Tea Olive Tree arrived yesterday, Saturday, June 26!!! I know it is a good tree, because our ‘pet duck’ Pretty Bird, likes it too!!! I will ‘attempt’ to get some one to plant it for me. Cannot wait till it BLOOMS!!! God bless you and THANK YOU! MAHALO! GRACIAS! DANKE! ARRIGATO!——————————————-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

The 3 gallon tree arrived a couple days earlier than I thought it would. Unfortunately, my gardener was in hospital and could not send anyone for a few more days. He said to open the box and put in a safe spot and add a little water until he could get someone to plant it. I dreaded opening the box after it has sat in my kitchen for 3 days, but when I did the tree was beautiful, healthy, and perfectly packaged. I unpacked it as my gardener suggested. It is now in the ground and looking pretty and happy. I’m very happy!———————————–We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

…assuming you expect perfection.
Plants that are healthy, packed safely, shipped in a timely manner, at a good price…that’s what I expected and received! Today you are lucky to get half of what you expect, or expect bad things to happen. Not with Wilson Brothers. Packing was ingenious, plants arrived the same week ordered, price was cheapest I could fine even locally, and the plants are healthy. Went so well I ordered twice. Don’t hesitate, if you need what they have you have come to the right place.——————————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! Thanks so much for the kind words and awesome review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

So far so good, received product and planted. Seems to be doing great.———————————We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the kind words and great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

The two Tea Olives that we recently purchased from Wilson Bros. now sit proudly in beautiful pots either side of the entrance to our restaurant. To make it easier for our customers, who continually ask about these two shrubs, we have placed easy to read labels on each.. Many of our customers are surprised at their beautiful shape and wonderful scent.—————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you and your customers enjoy them for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

We purchased two trees. They were shipped in the same box. Both arrived healthy and ready for planting. I was impressed with the manner in which the plants were shipped and how they were secured. Definitely would buy from Wilson Bros again.—————————————We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

I for the life of me can not figure how I came to be purchasing plants from you folks.
But I am sure glad I found you and have wonderful plantings around our home as the result.
The thing that has brought me back for additional orders was first the QUALITY of the plants.
AND the great care you folks take in shipping said plants that I unpack with a tree saw [Yes].
Many THANKS to all you good folks in these days of Covid 19 may you live long and prosper.————————————Thanks so much for the kind words! We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the wonderful review! Beth | WBG 🙂

Your plants/trees are always so well-packed and so healthy! Thanks for all you do to offer quality plants!————————————-Thanks so much for your review. Let us know if there’s ever anything we can help you with. 🙂 – Beth | WBG

Plants came interestingly packaged and undamaged. Product was purchased for a client/customer and planted in their backyard.————————————————-We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Our packaging is one of the things that we are most proud of…Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

Plant arrived timely in good condition. I’ve planted and look forward to those fragrant blooms. Good job, Wilson Bro’s!————————-We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG

Best nursery products !!!——————————————–We are so glad you are pleased with your purchase! Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG 🙂

The entire process works smoothly from selection, ordering, and payment to planting instructions. . Our plant arrived well protected by the packaging, intact and healthy. Planting instruction, available on the website are clear and helpful..————————————————We are so happy you are pleased with your purchase! Beth | WBG

I am pleased with the condition and the healthiness of the Bush on its arrival. I look forward to seeing it’s growth progress over the next few months and hopefully in the not too distant future it will bloom ! Thanks again, Arturo————————–Thanks for the great review! Beth | WBG

We had a mishap with FedEx who separated our order, and sent two of our trees to the west coast. Wilson Bros responded quickly to the situation, and resolved the problem without hassle. We have order a number of different plants over the past couple of months and have been pleased. We will definitely order from Wilson Bros again.————————————–We are so glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG

Healthy————————————-We are glad you are pleased! Beth | WBG

Tree was well packaged and arrived healthy and was in bloom. The sweet smell of these little flowers is amazing.—————————————-Hi Patricia, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Fragrant White Tea Olive. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words! 🙂
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens

Tree arrived exactly when expected and in very good shape. Packaging was great. After a month of being planted it is doing great! Highly Recommend.——————————-Hi Cathy, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Fragrant White Tea Olive. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words!
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens

Gorgeous, large plants arrived when requested. They were packaged to arrive safely and undamaged. They were covered in blooms and the scent when opening the boxes was fantastic. We would not hesitate to order here again.——————————-WBG Reply: Hi Sandra, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Fragrant Orange Tea Olive. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come!
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens

Plants arrived according to schedule. I live in Ga, yet I found it interesting that it took two weeks for delivery. Nevertheless, the plants were packed, delivered and in excellent condition. I purchased them for screening, and I hope these 3-gallon plants will give me the privacy needed to block an ugly gulley and trashy neighbors home.
I also am looking forward to the first blooms so I can experience the smells that others speak about in the reviews.——————————WBG Reply: Hi Elaine, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Fragrant Orange Tea Olive. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy them for years to come! I’m not sure why it took 2 weeks for delivery, but if you want to go to the Contact Us page, I’m sure someone in shipping could answer that question for you. Thanks Again!!
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens

Received my Tea Olive yesterday. It was packed extremely well and it arrived in excellent condition. The plant itself was gorgeous and robust, I am eager to get it in the ground.———————————WBG Reply: Hi Paulette, Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review of the Fragrant White Tea Olive. We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come!
Beth Steele | Wilson Bros Gardens

The reason I chose to buy from Wilson Bros. is that you had the plant I wanted. I knew it would be a risk to order in Texas in 100+ temperatures. I was upset that the carrier said that instead of Friday they would wait and deliver on Monday. I expected 2 dry sticks. Instead I got 3 beautiful (2 were stuck together), healthy wonderful plants due to the way they were packed and grown. I was so impressed that I just placed an order for some roses and a jasmine. If ordering online, I doubt I would trust another greenhouse. ————————- WBG Reply: Hi Gretchen – Thanks so much for the review on the Fragrant White Tea Olive and for your much appreciated compliments. It makes everything we do even more worth the while. We hope you enjoy its wonderful fragrance for years to come! Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

Plant arrived in absolutely pristine condition – not a single broken branch or bent leaf – soil well protected in pot. Best of all plants ever received by mail!! Highly recommend! —————-WBG Reply: Hi Betsy – Thanks so much for your review of the White Tea Olive plant and for the compliments! It makes everything we do even more worth the while. Hope you enjoy this fragrant wonder for years to come. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can do for you. We’re at your service. – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

Perfect healthy plants! They arrived in great condition and are growing beautifully. ——————- WBG Reply: Hi Natalie – Thanks for your review and for the great picture. You’ve definitely brought sensory appeal to the patio! Very cute little doggie too and looks like he/she is already enjoying the new additions as well. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent – Wilson Bros Gardens

Arrived healthy and ready to plant! —————– WBG Reply: Hi Diane – Thanks so much for your review of the White Tea Olive. Hope you enjoy it for years to come. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

Arrived today in perfect condition. It will be a beautiful addition to the back yard near the patio. Thank you! —————– WBG Reply: Hi Val – Thanks so much for your review of the White Tea Olive and we hope you enjoy it for years to come. near the patio is a perfect spot to enjoy the fragrance! Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

I was delighted to get a well-packed, very healthy plant. Established and bushy, but not pot-bound, so it was easy to transplant. I’m growing this in a large glazed pot so I can fine-tune sun/shade balance seasonally — we’ll have to see how it takes to this dry climate. ——————- WBG Reply – Hi Pam – Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review on the Fragrant White Tea Olive and for the compliments! We’ve had some long periods of drought here in Georgia and the tea olives sail right through it. Hope you enjoy these fragrant beauties for years to come. Keep us posted as to how it does there in your specific location in Arizona. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

Ok so as my title states my tea olive tree arrived at about 5 1/2 feet tall. I’m 5’4, and one of the branches was just above my head. The tree is absolutely beautiful and was impeccably packaged as is shown in my attached PICS. I can’t wait to plant her in my yard and just enjoy watching the growth, especially when it’s time for blooms and fragrant flowers. This is another 5 STAR tree from Wilson Bros., and the transaction was 5 STAR as well. I ordered on the 17th and received these trees today, less than 48 hours after ordering, the 19th. I am very pleased and happy with Wilson Brother’s nursery and will continue to purchase all of my plants here. Thank you sooo much! ————————- WBG Reply: Hi Katrina – Thanks so much for your review of the White Tea Olive. You received one of the last plants in our crop that was much larger than normal. Normally, a 3-gallon tea olive is between 36 and 48 inches tall, which is still nice size. Just didn’t want to have anyone else who reads this to always expect a 5-foot plant:-) We hope you enjoy your tea olive for years to come. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can do for you. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

I bought this fragrant white tea Olive, very nice to blossom indoor during the cold winter. ——– WBG Reply: Hi Carol – Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review! I’ve heard that tea olive can be grown indoors during the winter but didn’t know they’d bloom indoors. They do well through the winter outdoors here in north-central Georgia so I’ve never overwintered one indoors. But if you keep your thermostat set at 65 to 75F, and the plant gets enough light, it makes sense that they’d bloom indoors. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

I came across a Fragrant Tea Olive a decade ago and took weeks to track down the smell in my neighborhood. It was so amazing, I just had to know what it was. Now that we have purchased a home I knew I had to have at least one in my yard! I bought two 3 gallon sized plants and one has tiny baby blooms after arriving about 2-3 weeks ago. They did arrive looking a little less than perfect but I was assured it was normal for this time of year and the customer service I received was great. Just watching to see if they both do well and can’t wait for them to get bigger and greet me with their beautiful smell! ——– WBG Reply: Hi Amy – Thanks so much for taking the time to provide your review! We too love both the white and orange tea olives growing in our gardens. No other plant I know of has the same wonderful fragrance. I checked our crop to see what you might be referring to as less than perfect. It’s probably that some of the older, 2-year old leaves have some spots on them? If so, that’s very normal for tea olive this time of year (fall), at least in our north-central Georgia area. Same with azaleas, camellias, hydrangea and many other ornamental shrubs. You could pick them off but I usually recommend allowing them to fall off naturally, which usually happens during winter or next spring when new leaves begin to emerge. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. We’re at your service! – Brent | Wilson Bros Gardens

Very happy with this purchase! Plant was very well packaged and roots were moist. I ordered the 3 gallon which was already in bloom and smelled terrific. It was money well spent. Will order from them again in a heartbeat!! —————— WBG RESPONSE: Hi Pamela – Thanks for taking the time to provide your review. We’re happy to hear you got to smell the blooms when your Tea Olive arrived. The white one blooms in our gardens probably 4 months out of the year: in fall, on and off during warm periods in winter, and again in early to mid spring. Let us know if there’s ever anything else we can help you with. Plant long and prosper! – Brent Wilson | Wilson Bros Gardens

Did not like that the plant had the top cut off so it would fit in the box. I would rather have had a smaller plant without the top cut off. Also the mulch had no dirt mixed with it so when I removed the plant from the container all the mulch fell away from the roots. I planted it and so far it look healthy. —————– RESPONSE FROM WILSON BROS: Hi Robert. We appreciate your feedback. We have various size boxes to accommodate various size plants, so vary rarely if ever prune a plant in order to fit it in a box. We always prune the entire crop of Tea Olive in late winter, before new growth begins to emerge. Some plants, such as Tea Olive, tend to stretch and become thin in containers if not pruned form time to time. When growing Tea Olive in pots it is very important the potting medium drains very well. Soil that retains too much water can cause leaves to brown on the tips, which is unsightly and could lead to worse problems. That’s why we use a potting medium heavy with pine bark fines (small chips), and our Tea Olive usually look very nice and healthy, as you mentioned. In any event, if for any reason you are not happy with the plant we will be happy to replace it for you or provide you with a store credit. We aim to please! – Brent Wilson | Wilson Bros Gardens

Nicely pruned, safely packaged, quick delivery! I like it & will order again! Thanks!!

Plants came as ordered in great condition, flowering right away. Packaging worked well to contain the plants and keep them from being harmed. Overall very satisfied.

I called and spoke with the manager on timing. He got the Fragrant Tea Olives out the door the next day. They arrived in perfect condition a day ahead of schedule. They are healthy and blooming, couldn’t ask for more. Thanks

The plants arrived today and I planted them all. This was my first time buying vegetation off the internet and I was worried about shipping damage, etc., but I have to say that I was blown away by your packing job. The plants were high quality, the soil was moist, etc…couldn’t be more pleased. Here’s hoping they survive their first winter in Seattle. We had our first bloom already and the smell is incredible. I recommend, both, the plant and Wilson Bros Gardens