Hi all, I am wondering what is the exact cold hardiness of olive trees in general. I read that they are only hardy to -9C or so which would not allow them to be cultivated in this area in theory but I have heard rumblings of people succeeding with them.... any ideas?
Hi Deneb, check out this thread from here on the subject of olive trees on the west coast: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=4728 and this article from the Georgia Strait about an olive grove on Pender Island: http://www.straight.com/article/pender-island-olive-oil-is-now-growing-on-the-branch I bought an 'Arbequina' variety here in Victoria at Gardenworks this summer and am hoping to give it a good spot where I hope it will florish enough, despite our cooler and moister climate. Good luck! (to me too)
Cool.. it seems as if Olives can make it here in favoured microclimates. I wonder how well those on Pender Island did with the horrendous winter we had last year... hopefully they've all or most of them have made it. Who knows, like the article from the Georgia Straight says, we could have extra virgin Canadian Olive oil in a few years!
I have a three-year-old Arbequina in a pot. It lives in the same favoured microclimate as my bay tree in the summer, and up on my front porch in the winter, where it can be moved indoors if necessary. I move it in if the nighttime temps are forecast to be -2C or less -- that is, if it's -2 in Vancouver it'll be -4 here on the south slope. It didn't like living in the basement suite for much of last winter! So far it's 6' tall and somewhat weeping, with a trunk about as thick around as two fingers. It also has several small olives, on the side closest to the house. The biggest thing I've discovered about it is that it doesn't like to be dry -- I water it more often than I think I should, and it responds well. keke
wow sounds like your olive tree is hanging in there.... I am a bit surprised that you said it doesn't like to be dry as supposedly these trees can handle quite a bit of drought..... hopefully you can use it to make olive oil soon...