Sweet Olive
I had never seen sweet olive in real life--or smelled it, that's the main thing--until today. Clara and I stopped off at the biggest nursery in town to wander in the greenhouse. There were two bushes in bloom, and the fragrance was indescribable. We brought one home to enjoy indoors, and then plant outside in April.
8 comments:
We simply love sweet olive. I first smelled it almost 25 years ago when my mother had a large shrub planted by her back deck.
We just last year planted several in our own back yard and 2 large specimens by our front entry.
The smell really is indescribably wonderful.
Highly recommend them.
My mother's blog post about evocative smells and sweet olive: http://gretchenjoanna.blogspot.com/2009/09/grandma-and-sweet-olive.html
She loves that osmanthus.
And in this post my mother describes the challenge of describing its scent:
http://gretchenjoanna.com/2010/10/22/essential-aromas/
I have planted a hedge of this and it has just put on new growth-so excited! The flowers last for ages and smell amazing.
I have never heard of it or seen it. Beautiful!
When I was in university, there was a long hedge of sweet olive bushes, a little taller than me. (Although I didn't know the name.) I loved passing them every day, and promised myself I would have them in my yard when I 'grew up' and had my own home.
Fast forward until I DID have my first home. I went back to the university to get a clipping to take to the nursery so they could identify it for me. I almost couldn't find them, because they had grown so big, they were overhead, like trees! Still to this day, they are in a triple tie with gardenias and hydrangeas for my favorite shrubs.
I hadn't heard of this plant before - probably because it doesn't grow around here; we are too far north. Enjoy! Sounds lovely.
In the deep south we call it a Tea Olive and the fragrance immediately transports me back to childhood. My wish is to have a healthy one right by my front entrance.
Love your posts, all of them!
Tina
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