Leo in N E Illinois
The Professor
- Messages
- 11,337
- Reaction score
- 23,254
- USDA Zone
- 5b
Osmanthus fragrans 'Tian Xiang Taige' - These tiny little flowers pack an incredible fragrance. My entire dinning room is redolent with its simple sweet fragrance from only 4 tiny flowers!!! There are a few named cultivars of Osmanthus fragrans, The 'Tian Xiang Taige' is noted for its intense fragrance and long bloom season. Descriptions claim this is the most intensely fragrant of known cultivars of Osmanthus fragrans. This one normally starts blooming in Autumn, usually middle of October for me, and will stay in bloom though until late March or April. The name means "Heaven Fragrance Duplicate" referring to its exceptionally strong fragrance.
Another cultivar is 'Fudingzhu' sometimes spelled 'Fodingzhu', actually 'Fodingzhu' is supposed to be the more correct transliteration from Chinese. The meaning of 'Fodingzhu' is "pearls on Buhdda's Head" - it is a really floriferous clone of Osamanthus, with a longer blooming season than my 'Tian Xian Taige'. it is fairly easy to find, definitely worth seeking out if you are a sucker for fragrance. 'Fodingzhu' is definitely worth seeking out.
Osmanthus fragrans is called the sweet olive in some circles. The related Osmanthus heterophyllus and a couple other species make fair to good sub-tropical bonsai. O. heterophyllus is zone 7 hardy. There are a number of Chinese species of Osmanthus that are zone 7 or zone 8 hardy. Osmanthus fragrans is a zone 8 hardy sub-tropical, no more than a few degrees of frost are safe. Foliage is fine, but roots don't like to freeze. They bloom only on old wood, if one prunes their Osmanthus they will likely not flower for a number of years.
Sadly Osmanthus fragrans is a very poor choice for bonsai. It has a very bad habit, a cluster of short internodes, with a cluster of leaves, then long, bare internodes. This trait means it always looks like a lollypop tree, long stems, then a puff of leaves. Awkward. Stems and trunks are very slow to thicken. It is a good tree to have in the background, behind showier plants. Put a blooming Bougainvillea in front of it, everyone will think the sweet fragrance is coming from the Bougie. They are used a lot in Botanic Gardens, as the background planting, then the showy, non-fragrant stuff put in front of it. Fragrance is so powerful that at the Missouri Botanic Garden the whole "Orangery" greenhouse is fragrant. You don't even notice the Osmanthus are in bloom, you think the fragrance is coming from the various citrus they have in there.
Osmanthus is in the Oleeae, along with genera Chionanthus, Cartrema, Forestiera, Ligustrum, Olea and Syringa, the fringe trees, USA native devilwoods, fiddlewoods, privet, olives, and lilac. Soils for Osmanthus should retain moisture, they are a forest edge species. Osmanthus fragrans survives in deep shade and grows best in part shade. They can grow in full sun, but need lots of water if they are in full sun. Because they tolerate deep shade for a while, they make good indoors for winter, outdoors for summer houseplants.
No indoor plant collection should be without one. Too bad "Smell a Vision" hasn't been invented.
Another cultivar is 'Fudingzhu' sometimes spelled 'Fodingzhu', actually 'Fodingzhu' is supposed to be the more correct transliteration from Chinese. The meaning of 'Fodingzhu' is "pearls on Buhdda's Head" - it is a really floriferous clone of Osamanthus, with a longer blooming season than my 'Tian Xian Taige'. it is fairly easy to find, definitely worth seeking out if you are a sucker for fragrance. 'Fodingzhu' is definitely worth seeking out.
Osmanthus fragrans is called the sweet olive in some circles. The related Osmanthus heterophyllus and a couple other species make fair to good sub-tropical bonsai. O. heterophyllus is zone 7 hardy. There are a number of Chinese species of Osmanthus that are zone 7 or zone 8 hardy. Osmanthus fragrans is a zone 8 hardy sub-tropical, no more than a few degrees of frost are safe. Foliage is fine, but roots don't like to freeze. They bloom only on old wood, if one prunes their Osmanthus they will likely not flower for a number of years.
Sadly Osmanthus fragrans is a very poor choice for bonsai. It has a very bad habit, a cluster of short internodes, with a cluster of leaves, then long, bare internodes. This trait means it always looks like a lollypop tree, long stems, then a puff of leaves. Awkward. Stems and trunks are very slow to thicken. It is a good tree to have in the background, behind showier plants. Put a blooming Bougainvillea in front of it, everyone will think the sweet fragrance is coming from the Bougie. They are used a lot in Botanic Gardens, as the background planting, then the showy, non-fragrant stuff put in front of it. Fragrance is so powerful that at the Missouri Botanic Garden the whole "Orangery" greenhouse is fragrant. You don't even notice the Osmanthus are in bloom, you think the fragrance is coming from the various citrus they have in there.
Osmanthus is in the Oleeae, along with genera Chionanthus, Cartrema, Forestiera, Ligustrum, Olea and Syringa, the fringe trees, USA native devilwoods, fiddlewoods, privet, olives, and lilac. Soils for Osmanthus should retain moisture, they are a forest edge species. Osmanthus fragrans survives in deep shade and grows best in part shade. They can grow in full sun, but need lots of water if they are in full sun. Because they tolerate deep shade for a while, they make good indoors for winter, outdoors for summer houseplants.
No indoor plant collection should be without one. Too bad "Smell a Vision" hasn't been invented.