Hi Erica,

Too bad that you don't like the smell of Osmanthus, you are the 1st one I know that don't like that smell. The smell is very pure and sweet. Are you sure you got the Osmanthus Fragrans? There are some other Osmanthus that I don't like the smell.

To answer your question, yes, almost all cultivars of Osmanthus Fragrans have very similar smell, stronger or weaker, but the same tone.
YT

I've noticed that young flowers don't have that desired scent at first, but the lovely scent becomes apparent a few days later, especially when the flowers are fully opened or starting to age.

You have got to be kidding me? Maybe you don't have the right one.

You should smell tne fragrance when you walk into Logees "cool" greenhouse! That is all anyone talks about when I bring them with me..They take a biff whiff and say "What the heck is that unbelievable sweet scent in here?"?

I never knew of these plants until I asked what the smell was, and had to buy one years ago. They showed me dozens of trees in there,planted in ground over 10 feet tall, loaded with blooms..That is the key. They require very cool temps and just light, not sun, to bloom profusely.

I will tell you, the most sweetest, better flowering, and nicer one out there is the one you have on order. I personally think it is the better smelling of mine. It is much sweeter.

Yellowthumb introduced me to that variety, and I am greatful he did. Thanks yellowthumb.

Hey thanks everyone for your help.

The Osmanthus is growing on me. I don't find it offensive, just different from the jasmines and orchids and basically anything else I've ever smelled.

Mike, I will keep my order for the 'Fudingzhu' on your recommendation and I've added several jasmines to it as well.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Erica

Like everyone said, I've never met anyone that didn't love the scent. My mother can't smell it at all, but that is a different issue. I've got lots of these in varying conditions and mine bloom and look the best in full sun... even down here in hot Texas. They will bloom in the shade, but not as much and don't have many leaves.

cweathersby,

I am very interested in what you said.

You say they bllom and look the best in full sun?

Are they all outdoors? And do they bloom that much in the hot sun?

Mine never bloom at all in summer, unless there was an unusually cool few nights in a row.. In fact, just as soon as the sun comes after after a cool morning in summer, if there are any flowers, they just dry right up in that day. In fact if I was to move one of mine right now to the sunny windows, the flowers would dry off and loose their fragrance..

The very same plants though, once winter rolls around, bloom extrodinary well, and hold the flowers for days. In fact, it is the coolness and lack of sun in itself that triggers the bloom for all mine.

What are you doing differently?..Please share...

Thank you

Mike;-)

Does it need cool temps to bloom or for the fragrance to come out? I had one a small plant which did not make it. Before i get another, I was curious about the requirements.

Thanks,
Radha.

Yes...At least that is what I have been directed to do from every seller of these plants, and it IS the ONLY time mine flowers. At some point, something has to trigger the blooms and stop leaf growth.

Many plants need a cooling period to be able to blossom such as certain Jasmine, camellias, clivia, certain cacti, jade, certain citrus, and many others. Therefore the reason why all these plants are not in the warm greenhouses all year long, but in their cool room. Temps reading at 55 or lower. They are not true tropicals requirind consistantly mild temps.

These olive trees are kept in that cold room for a reason.
In Georgia, the only time my sister-in-laws blooms is in the fall-early spring.
Mine will not flower or smell, once the temps rise above 70 or face the sun. Thus the same holds true of camellias, requiring the same cultural needs.

That is why I ask cweathersbe this question. I just can't imagine an olive tree loaded with blooms in the HOT Texas sun. Never heard of to me. I can't even keep them on my plants in my summer sun.

The only thing I can think of is that she has them in-ground, and that might make a difference?

They are all in the ground. The plants in the shade don't bloom as much as the ones in full hot Texas sun, but they all bloom at the same time of year. Fall, spring, and any time in the winter when it hasn't dipped below freezing for a few weeks in a row. Got buds now. Occasional summer bloom, but very scattered.

Great to hear you like it afterall. Now I gotta order one of these.

Thanks for that cweathersby..

If I lived where you did, I would have a whole yard of these babies...You are so lucky..

Mike..:-)

On more thing...You are right about them liking the sun, only when I am not looking for follwers, or by nature they do well.
Since they don't flower in the summer for me, I let mine grow in almost full sun, but when brought indoors, I put them in a cool room with no sun, which prompts bud and flowers..

agree with cweathersby. they can handle the full sun of the south but will bloom well for me with as little as half of a day of it but not many flowers in shade. the peak flowering here is from autumn until frost with a spattering during warm spells of winter until early spring, then it's the foliage flush. one of the best scents around to me.

I do have a yard full. They form the walls of all of my garden "rooms"!

Oh, I wish I could stand in your back yard in the early am when your trees are in bloom...You are so very lucky!

If ever someday you think of it, please take a picture of it in full bloom, and post it here. I don't think anyone has ever done that yet..

Have fun with these plants..And have a great spring soon to come..Appreciate your sharing with us along with everyone else.:-)

Mike

The one I got 2 weeks ago just opened new flowers. Oh my! Its like opening a jar of apricot jam. very intense up close.

I just moved to a new home and the growers in our area sell them really cheap, I got a 5 gallon very healthy and full Osmanthus for $14. I was so excited anywhere else that would have been $30-40. I planted them in January and they started blooming right away, 3 months later now they are both getting new growth. I live in Chino, California. MY daughter has one that is 6-7 foot tall, it starts blooming in the fall all the way thru when spring begins, it smells so good to walk up to her door where it's planted. She lives 2 doors down from me.

Wow, sweetmichelia, may I ask what exact nursery is that? I would love to buy a large plant that size.

I am sure that your neighbors greatly appreciate your fragrant osmanthus as well as a cover up of that lingering smell of 'chino' if you know what I mean. LOL