Fruitland’s Fortune Tea Olive – Tree Form

Osmanthus x fortunei ‘Fruitlandii’

Other Names: Sweet Olive, Fruitland’s Osmanthus

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 7a to 10a (6?) Find Your Zone

Plant Type: Evergreen Flowering Small Tree

Height at Maturity: 15-20′, with no pruning

Width at Maturity: 10-15′, with no pruning

Spacing: 18’+ for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Upright, Dense, Rounded

Growth Rate: Moderate to Fast

Flower Color: Pristine White

Flower Size: Small, 1/4″ in clusters

Flowering Period: Fall, Early Winter

Flower Type: Single, in clusters

Fragrant Flowers: Yes, extremely fragrant!

Foliage Color: Dark Green

Fragrant Foliage: No

Berries: No

Berry Color: NA

Sun Needs: Full to Mostly Sun, Shade, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade, Morning Shade with Afternoon Sun. All day Filtered Sun

Water Needs: Average, Very Low when established

Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sandy, Silty

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Moist But Well Drained

Soil pH: 5.5 – 7.0 (Acid to Neutral)

Maintenance / Care: Average to Low

Attracts: Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer, Disease, Drought (when established), Heat, Insect

Description

This is the single-trunk tree form version of the Fruitland’s Fortune Tea Olive, introduced from Japan in 1856. It is a cross between Osmanthus heterophyllus and Osmanthus fragrans and has stood the test of time for good reasons. It sports abundant clusters of unusually fragrant, clear-white flowers in fall. As with other tea olives, the individual flowers might be small but they sure do pack a punch when it comes to fragrance, filling the air in a front or back yard with sweet, heavenly perfume. Fruitland’s evergreen leaves are longer, more lustrous deeper green and the spines are much less pronounced than its O. heterophyllus parent. Thriving in full sun or shade it might reach 20 feet tall and 15 feet wide over time, making it a fine selection for a focal point specimen in landscape borders or home foundation plantings. Also perfect around outdoor living and sitting spaces. It is drought tolerant when established and we’ve seen no problems with insects, disease, or deer, who turn their nose up to it.

‘Fruitlandii’ is a cultivar selected by Fruitland Nurseries, which long ago occupied what is currently Augusta National Golf Club.

Landscape & Garden Uses

Growing 15 to 20 feet tall and 10 to 15 feet wide with no pruning, the Fruitland’s Fortune Tea Olive tree is ideal for use as a focal point specimen in sunny to partially shaded landscape borders and home foundation plantings. Also very nice near patios, porches, decks and other outdoor living and sitting spaces. Can also be used to line a walk, driveway or street. Also nice to frame corners of homes and other structures. A fine addition to fragrance gardens, cottage gardens, white theme gardens and the Xeriscape (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 18 feet or more apart for space between plants

Growing Preferences

Fruitland’s Fortune Tea Olive is very easy to grow in most any average, moist but well-drained acidic to neutral soil and full sun to mostly shade. Exceptionally drought tolerant when established. Over decades of growing this plant in our own gardens, we’ve seen no insect or disease problems and deer don’t touch it. As with many other plants, a constantly soggy or wet soil can be problematic. No pruning necessary however responds well to to it for shaping purposes or hedges.

Helpful Articles

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

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