Osmanthus is grown as evergreen in Texas. It is a large bush and its flowers are very fragrant, resemble of the Jasmine flowers. Another common name is Sweet Olives.

I've inhereted 2 from my mom. They remind her of the tea she had in Vietnam. Vietnamese is hoa moc. The tea is called Tra Hoa Moc. Nowadays, it's much easier to get Osmanthus Oolong Tea or just the dried flowers online. Although, resembling the Jasmine, this tea has a distinguish fragrant of its own. If you like Jasmine tea, you should try Osmanthus Oolong tea. If Oolong is too strong for you, you may buy just the dry flowers and mix it with your favorite green tea.

Mine are both in a large pot. They actually should be on the ground. I don't do much to it except water it. It flowers during March and April.

At where I work, it is planted in a long row. This row of Sweet Olives goes from shade to partly shade to full sun. They all do just as well.

I don't know how cold it gets where you're at. If your plant is still small, maybe you should keep it in a pot and bring it in during the winter. Since it's a bush, you can keep it trimmed so it'll stay in the pot.

Good Luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanthus

Can the tea olive, (Osmanthus heterophyllus), also be used in tea??/ SAy YES !

I check: fragrant tea olive, easy enough to find, IS called 'tea' olive because it is used to scent tea in China. Thank you for the suggestion. I am NUTS about jasmine tea, but am tired of the upkeep of vines.