Osmanthus delavayi

© Great Plant Picks

© Great Plant Picks

Dancing Oaks Nursery, Inc

Common Name: Sweet Olive

Combining tiny, very dark green leaves and small, fragrant, tubular white flowers, this evergreen shrub provides year-round interest. Blooming in April, its flowers perfume the garden. Its leaves are .5 inch to 1 inch long. Adaptable and flexible, Delavayi's osmanthus can be clipped to form a hedge or screen or left to grow naturally. Its very dark foliage and fine texture create a punctuation mark in the perennial border and provide winter interest when other plants are dormant. Combine it with shrubs with larger or paler leaves. This plant has a great track record: Its was collected by Abbe Delavay in 1890 in Sichuan and Yunnan and sent to a French nursery for introduction.

The false holly is very easy to grow in full sun to deep shade, although it will flower less in more shade. It prefers well-drained soil, but will tolerate sand and clay. It is drought tolerant once established, but would appreciate occasional watering during dry weather, especially if in a sandy site. It can grow openly while it is young, particularly if it is in shade- light pruning can help keep this shrub dense in youth.

Source: Great Plant Picks.