It is just my persoal observation at different places, Sweet Oliver in U S called Osmanthus americanus and Fodingzhu( should be o not u) in China. Both have nice fragrance. Fodingzhu might have slightly impressive flower clusters and the fragrance. The flowers possibly are slightly larger. The flowers tends to stay at top of new branches. The name is thus translated from Chinese as 'Pearls on Budda's Head'. The bloom period, off and on, from Aug to Jan. See a picture

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hello Longriver,

I've read so many threads about Osmanthus and I've wanted to jump
in and plant one, but theres so much tooo absorb that I feel
I'll never be ready.

I thought you may know what I could at least start with and how to make a site selection for it.

But I won't be back here till next week-end though.

.

Sib5: your area is close to 210 freeway. I traveled to there very often. San Gabriel Nursery has both white and creamy yellow Osmanthus.

I have a small one that I received as a rooted cutting last year. I have not fertilized it at all. It spent the fall, winter and early spring in front of a sunny south-facing window. The flowers were so tiny they were almost invisible, but the fragrance was incredible.

It stopped blooming in mid-spring and I brought it outside. It has shown a little new growth and is starting to bloom again.

I just checked your trades list and saw that you hadn't listed anything. I would dearly love to get a bunch of cuttings from you. Since the plants grow so lushly where you are, I was thinking that you could just make a bunch of cuttings from branches that overhang the sidewalk! (Don't get arrested.)

Would you like some white tb irises? Pink gladiolas? Styrax japonicus? Loquat? I have lots of things I could trade. I just want to try to get some more plants and no one seems to be trading rooted cuttings or plants at the moment.
Ginny

Elvin McDonald says the trick with osmanthus is to feed lightly with high nitrogen fertilizer to keep the leaf tips from turning brown, especially when they're in containers. I have yet to keep mine from getting brown leaf tips, but then again I don't fertilize as often as I should.

Also, I'm pretty sure they prefer slightly acid soil, so a dose of stuff for azaleas and other acid-loving plants should do some good.

LR's the real osmanthus expert here, though.

My experience is they're not difficult at all so long as you don't let them dry out too much and you give them well-drained soil.

Osmanthus rocks!

Jim

Keep it less water in the winter. The plant dislikes shade and likes enough light.

***Mistake!*** ***Mistake***

Before I kill anyone's osmanthus, let me correct myself; McDonald says LOW nitrogen and high phosphorus and potash (P and K, the last two numbers in the formula),
NOT HIGH NITROGEN!!

Sorry for the mixup!

Jim

For rooted cutting plant, there might be a 'Maturity' condition for the plant to flower regularily on their time clock.I have a few footed Os. plantsthat are not quite ready to put out flower buds yet. Yet my Wan-Dian-Jin is in full boolm now.

One writer from the Song Dynasty(~1000 A.D.) wrote about a pathway to a temple in the Southern Sacred Mountain (Nan Yue Heng Shan) in current Hunan province in China. This path was about 12 miles long, both side planted with alternating pine and osmanthus trees that had trunks so thick that one man could barely wrap his arms around. The total was 17 thousand trees. It was a constant emerald corridor and when the osmanthus trees were blooming in the fall, the fragrance was traveling for miles. Unfortunately this horticultural wonder no longer exists. But it tells a few things about Osmanthus cultivation: a) it likes acid soil (pH 5.5-6.5) with pine needles as a good mulch. b) it does not need too much water and can compete with tree roots. c) it can get to tree size eventually. From my observation, Fudingzhu is really the best cultivar for fragrance in the U.S. with its long blooming period and bountiful of flowers.