Osmanthus heterophyllus .

An evergreen flowering shrub familiar to many, and for jolly good reason. Tough and adaptable to a variety of aspects and soils and easily clipped into tight little shapes or left to form its own gently-rounded dome of pretty little dark green leaves, sharp-toothed like miniature Hollies, up to 2.5 metres or so high, and with a soft texture that complements bigger-leaved and more coarsely-textured neighbours. Sweetly-scented white flowers will pepper the plant in autumn, which is a bit unusual but that’s just when you need them. The blooms themselves are also unusual: teensy little tubular clustered confections that look like four-petalled bugles. The density of growth and general hardiness of these shrubs lends them well to hedging, but we think that planting a specimen (or several) for year-round interest is the perfect way to bring a sense of maturity into new gardens and fine-textured structure into established ones: they’re so versatile. Their height and spread can be controlled with gentle pruning and they don’t seem to mind this at all.  Any reasonably well-drained soil in an open but not unduly exposed position will suit them, and Osmanthus does very well in pots, probably better than many. A fine specimen sat in a pot for at least 20 years in Campo Santo Stephano near St Mark's in Venice. A happy chap.

The Osmanthus Family

An evergreen flowering shrub familiar to many, and for jolly good reason. Tough and adaptable to a variety of aspects and soils and easily clipped into tight little shapes or left to form its own gently-rounded dome of pretty little dark green leaves, sharp-toothed like miniature Hollies, up to 2.5 metres or so high, and with a soft texture that complements bigger-leaved and more coarsely-textured neighbours. Sweetly-scented white flowers will pepper the plant in autumn. The density of growth and general hardiness of these shrubs lends them well to hedging, but we think that planting a specimen (or several) for year-round interest is the perfect way to bring a sense of maturity into new gardens and fine-textured structure into established ones: they’re so versatile. Their height and spread can be controlled with gentle pruning and they don’t seem to mind this at all.  Any reasonably well-drained soil in an open but not unduly exposed position will suit them, and Osmanthus does very well in pots, probably better than many. A fine specimen sat in a pot for at least 20 years in Campo Santo Stephano near St Mark's in Venice.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.