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Garden Gate:  the sweetest smelling most fragrant shrub ever!  |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 12 2008 : 7:56:42 PM
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I'm a Master Gardener and about 10 years ago, I planted this particular shrub behind my barn...I bought it at a little nursery in the spring simply based on the fact it was evergreen, fast growing, easy to grow, and the leaves are that pretty grey-green on top and kinda silvery on the bottom...but I was unfamiliar with any of the many other attributes! I read the tag, but it made no mention of the most important thing of all!
The fact it is amazingly, wonderfully fragrant!
Every year about this time, when I cross the creek to go to the barn to feed... there is the sweetest
smelling, very mellow fragrance wafting across the pasture at me...not the too loud smell of gardenia or the overbearing fragrance of paperwhites...but the most incredible, welcoming,
lovely fragrance ever!
The first year it happened, I went all over....searching...what WAS that? WHERE was it coming from? And, I finally discovered the source!
It was the unpretentious, easily overlooked for showier specimens, hardy, drought tolerant, tiny little blooms, fragrant....Elaeagnus!
Do you sleep with the windows up, screens in? My darling farmgirls, you must plant at least one of these shrubs right outside your bedroom, your screened in porch, your deck...to have something blooming every autumn, sweetly scenting the crisp night air for weeks, is absolutely heavenly!
livin' the sweet life! |
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Sandra K. Licher
True Blue Farmgirl
1106 Posts
Sandra
Horseshoe Bend
Arkansas
1106 Posts |
Posted - Oct 12 2008 : 8:18:01 PM
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Oh glory...you must have read my mind! I too am a Master Gardener but feel like a novice since I moved South...but I digress. I am working on a project of building a stone wall 5-6 feet out from my foundation and 2 feet high on 3 sides of an "L" shaped projection of my home in the front of the house(my bedroom). Anyway....I want to fill it with beautiful things but also fragrant since it will be under my bedroom windows....that bush sounds just perfect! I was going to use some Nandina simply for their year round hardiness and color in the fall since my home is sort of tan/orangish brick but definitely wanted something with a great fragrance. Thank you so much!
Sam in AR..... "It's a great life if you don't weaken!"
Farmgirl Sister #226
www.farmgirlsam.blogspot.com |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22944 Posts
22944 Posts |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2008 : 04:33:36 AM
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It is hardy to -10 degrees...but you could probably push that a little. How cold does it get
in your part of the country?
I'll snap a photo of my original shrub...it's huge now! The more you prune it, the larger it grows...
Sandra...you would LOVE this shrub! Nandina's berries are pretty, but the shrub can be a little thuggish around here!
Speaking of being a thug...does anybody have a porcelain berry vine? I have one that is showing off right now, too! Though in certain areas of the country they can be a little too aggressive...
And I adore my silver lace vine...it's blooming now...absolutely smothered with the most delicate, wispy white flowers. Perfection on an arbor!
I'm going to post photos of them, too. I want you to see for yourselves!
Don't you love to see everything you've planted with your own little hands bloom for you year after year?
livin' the sweet life! |
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Contrary Wife
True Blue Farmgirl
2164 Posts
Teresa Sue
Tekoa
WA
USA
2164 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2008 : 05:43:23 AM
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I do envy y'all climate to grow all those great things....but not the heat.
Teresa Sue
Farmgirl Sister #316
MJ's Heirloom Mavens Badgebadger
MJ's Heirloom Mavens Bookclub Coordinator
"Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly." The Dalai Lama |
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Homespun Livin
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Brenda
Louisiana
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2008 : 06:36:01 AM
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Glory,
Is that the common name of the shrub? It makes me think of sweet olive and I am wondering if it is the same? I love sweet olive, it's the stuff dreams are made of.
"Love one another." |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2008 : 07:28:48 AM
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I've always called it russian olive...but it may be called sweet olive, too. I just wanted to make sure I put the botanical name so there would be no confusion as to exactly the one I was talking about!
livin' the sweet life! |
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LisaLu
True Blue Farmgirl
126 Posts
Lisa
Wildomar
Ca
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2008 : 07:48:32 AM
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I'm in zone 10, do you think it could grow here?
Happiness is homemade... |
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lisamarie508
True Blue Farmgirl
2648 Posts
Lisa
Idaho City
ID
USA
2648 Posts |
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Homespun Livin
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Brenda
Louisiana
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2008 : 09:44:30 AM
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Yes. I do believe it is one and the same. I just didn't know the botanical name. So thanks for that info. I have been wanting a pair of those for the longest time. I saw some at the garden center and they are about $15 dollars each in a 1 gallon pot. Oh my.......you are not kidding when you speak of the fragrance! It smells absolutely wonderful. I saw a pair in front of a college campus building once. They were about 10 foot and still going. They were loaded with tiny yellow blossoms and the bees adored it!! I am in zone 8 and it is an evergreen here.
"Love one another." |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 03:41:37 AM
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Oh brother!
That stuff grows like a weed aroud here!!
Is this also the same thing as Russian Olive?
If it is, this plant/shrub can be pruned and basically hacked down to mere twigs and it will grow back with a vengance.
It also sprouts red berries in the fall that are edible if you are into sweet/tart.
I have thought about trying an Ileagnus jelly, but don't have much gimption for collectin a basket full of tiny berries right now.
The smell is nice when its just 1 plant. Around here it's everywhere and a little too strong on some days.
However, I'll take this over Privet blooms any day! Those just stink like rubber tires!
NC is in Zone 7 I think
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 03:45:46 AM
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p.s.
I'm an animal keeper by trade but married to a Horticulturalist, (whew!) so I'm Hortus by proxy and have learned quite a bit in the 8 years of marriage!
Bragging rights this year go to egg plants that I started from seed and raspberries. Both are still blooming their fool heads off and producing an abundace! |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 05:36:40 AM
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This shrub does not produce berries....you must be thinking of another!
It only produces
teeny tiny fragrant silvery white flowers in the fall. It doesn't grow wild, and it can be pruned into a formal, evergreen hedge. It's absolutely the most heavenly scented shrub ever, and if I had a thousand of them...all blooming at once...it would be like paradise itself!
livin' the sweet life! |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 05:57:08 AM
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Here is the exact name of the shrub if you're trying to find the particular one I'm talking about at your nursery or local home depot:
ELAEAGNUS' X EBBINGEI
It's awesome!
There are so many varieties of everything...this should end any confusion!
livin' the sweet life! |
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Homespun Livin
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Brenda
Louisiana
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 07:03:10 AM
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Yes Glory, you are right. The sweet olive I am talking about is the same as what you are saying. Only around here we call it "sweet olive" because the fragrance is so sweet. Like expensive perfume. The shrub I was talking about never made berries either. I was thinking the blossoms were yellow, but they may have been white. It was a few years ago when I saw it. I have never seen it grow wild either. I would love to have some of it, but that $15 price tag keeps me at a distance. You wouldn't be willing to send me a start would you? :)
"Love one another." |
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Homespun Livin
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Brenda
Louisiana
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 07:37:02 AM
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Hmmmm....Okay Glory. I seem to have been mistaken. The shrub I am thinking of is called Fragrant Tea Olive, Osmanthus fragrans. This is what people around here call "sweet olive." I am so sorry that I confused everyone. My apologies. :)
"Love one another." |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 10:02:37 AM
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My Aunt calls it russian olive...so I guess people call it different things! But no problem! It might have a couple of nicknames, and get confused with others in the same family...but if you want to know about the one I'm talking about...if you feel like taking the time to google it...ELAEAGNUS X EBBINGEI is the one I'm going on about!
I love, love it...and I highly recommend it to everybody that is looking for a carefree, easy, lovely green- silver, highly fragrant (without the SLIGHTEST hint of overly loud Gardenia!!!), evergreen shrub that blooms sweetly in the autumn of the year when hardly anything else is!
It is not thuggish, not weedy, does not set berries and is simply fab!
livin' the sweet life! |
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4845 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - Oct 14 2008 : 6:26:17 PM
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I work in the Fragrance Garden as a volunteer at Morton Arboretum. I'll have to ask the staff gardener if they have this growing there.
Dawn in IL |
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daylily
True Blue Farmgirl
114 Posts
Chris
Newcastle
CA
USA
114 Posts |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2008 : 09:39:54 AM
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Dawn, where can I volunteer at a fragrance garden? That sounds wonderful!
I snapped some photos yesterday, so here they are!
livin' the sweet life! |
Edited by - misstilliewillie on Aug 01 2009 2:25:58 PM |
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Sandra K. Licher
True Blue Farmgirl
1106 Posts
Sandra
Horseshoe Bend
Arkansas
1106 Posts |
Posted - Oct 16 2008 : 10:17:35 AM
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Glory, thanks for the pictures...beautiful bush! And Dawn...what a cool volunteer job! I used to drive by Morton Arboretum and went to school in Naperville....what a great place to volunteer!
Sam in AR..... "It's a great life if you don't weaken!"
Farmgirl Sister #226
www.farmgirlsam.blogspot.com |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Oct 21 2008 : 03:36:27 AM
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This computer won't download pictures.
I'll just take everyone's word for it.
Might ask some plant people in my husband's horticulture section.
If this is the same plant you are right it's WAAAy more tolerable than gardenia.
that reeks! |
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Cabinprincess
True Blue Farmgirl
682 Posts
Melody June
Athens
TX
USA
682 Posts |
Posted - Aug 01 2009 : 7:09:17 PM
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Here in TX we call them Sweet Olives also. I was walking through the Wal Mart nursery just a few months ago and smelled a wonderful light fragrance. A man was watering all the plants and I could not help but ask him if it was his colonge I was smelling. I said I'd never smelled anything so nice. Of course he turned bright red and pointed me toward the Sweet Olives, only 3 feet tall but only $5.00. I have them planted in my front yard but was sad I only got two. I will be getting more next spring. Your are so right Glory about the smell. It just wafts through the air with the lightest sweetest aroma. I don't think there is anything to compare it to. Great post to share.
Thanks!!
Smiles, Melody June
God's gift to you are your talents, your gift to Him is how you use them. |
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misstilliewillie
True Blue Farmgirl
136 Posts
glory
Tennessee
USA
136 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2009 : 05:14:22 AM
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Well, it's that time of year! This shrub at my barn has grown enormous and is blooming as we speak...
The fragrance is heavenly!
I loved it so I planted a group outside my bedroom so this wonderful, sweet smelling aroma will waft into my
screened windows day and night~
http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/misstilliewillie
livin' the sweet life! |
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cajungrammie
True Blue Farmgirl
124 Posts
tina
dry prong
la.
USA
124 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2009 : 11:48:25 AM
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I have a sweet olive shrub,well it is so big it is more like a tree.it is blooming now and the smell is so wonderful.i just love it.
Sometimes I think I know Everything!!Then I wake Up!! |
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Garden Gate: the sweetest smelling most fragrant shrub ever! |
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the sweetest smelling most fragrant shrub ever!
