This potted tree has been in our family for at least fifty years and I inherited it from my father. I’ve been told that it is an osmanthus fragans, however, I don’t have information on the variety. It has tiny white flowers and dark green leaves and quite a heavy perfume. Looking for confirmation of plant identity and variety. The tree is about four feet high and is currently outside for the summer. I understand that not all varieties can be overwintered outside in the lower mainland .
@AliceJM good morning and welcome to the forum. In my area zone 8b UK they are fully hardy. It is known as Sweet olive. IMO yours could be Osmanthus x Burkwoodii.
Tough call for me,I can't rule out O.fragrans.Burkwoodii looks like it has slightly more delicate looking flowers on the web to me,though I have no experience with it.My white flowered plants are too young but this is the orange one for comparison. My main worry with it is it keeps pushing new growth very early(February)for me which is in danger of getting frosted
The flowers in the photos appear to be yellow rather than white. If that is the case, it would eliminate the possibility of it being Osmanthus × burkwoodii. The following document lists a number of varieties of Osmanthus fragrans along with a number of related plants in the same genus: Osmanthus fragrans | Landscape Plants | Oregon State University. Compare those plants with yours. I have tried, without success, to grow tea olive indoors. It has a wonderfully fragrant scent but one that is not overpowering. You're lucky to have inherited such a nice plant.
I compared the flowers of the o.burkwoodii to my plant and in addition to having orange blossoms, the burkwoodii flower looks more tubular in shape. I have a similar worry about the hardiness of this plant outdoors as I think Richmond BC is in zone 8a.
Thank you for the link. Osmanthus fragrans appears to be the closest match to my plant. I've narrowed it down to possibly the "Tianxiang Taige" cultivar which is from China although the flowers on my plant are quite small. Given the age of my plant (at least 50 years old) it could possible come from an older cultivar from China. It has always been in a container and indoors for decades but had leaf curl and was dropping leaves by the time I got it. It has been doing much better now that I have repotted it and moved it outside to a north facing location where the humidity is higher. I am concerned about the hardiness of this variety. It is still flowering and it is showing new growth. These pictures were taken after the thunderstorm last night so it is still quite wet. Care and maintenance varies significantly depending on the cultivar and I can not find information specific to this particular cultivar. More specifically, should I move it indoors over winter and when? I'd like to propagate this plant; when is the optimal time to take cuttings?
If it's any help,when we had the 'beast from the east' I doubt the temp. here was less than -10 degrees but it did snow.This was enough to defoliate all the large ones where I bought it.Although this wouldn't kill them I don't think they'd appreciate it if it happened every year.I consider it an H3 UK hardiness...fine at -5..protection at -10
