Osmanthus Armatus Holly Olive

Osmanthus Armatus
Osmanthus Armatus is better known as the Holly Olive. It’s a useful dense evergreen with spined foliage and sweetly scented white flowers.  

Holly Olive is a popular shrub that’s known by several names including False Holly, Chinese Holly, and Devilwood. It originates from Western China and was introduced to the UK in 1902. This is an attractive shrub with a dense habit. Its leaves are elliptic-lanceolate, thick and rigid with spiny edges like traditional holly. Although it resembles English Holly you can tell the difference as Holly Olive has opposite leaves not alternate.

New growth appears in spring which is paler than the mature growth and sweetly scented tubular white flowers appear in autumn - well-timed for late pollinators. The flowers may turn into small blue-black fruits.

Height And Spread of Osmanthus Armatus
Holly Olive can grow to a maximum height of 2.5 – 5 metres and spread over 4 metres. Cut off the tips to maintain the size.  

How Hardy Is Osmanthus Armatus
This is a hardy evergreen that can survive sub-zero temperatures if the roots are well-drained. It’s fairly drought hardy once established and is rarely bothered by pests.

How To Use Osmanthus Armatus
Thriving in both sun and shade this is a useful evergreen shrub. Use evergreen Holly Olive at the back of a mixed border to bring year-round interest and as a space-filler against fences and walls. Its dense, prickly foliage makes a good security hedge and the sweetly-scented flowers attract pollinators to a wildlife garden.

How To Care For Osmanthus Armatus
Holly Olive is self-sufficient and will grow without much help. It prefers full sun to partial shade but will grow in shade too.
It isn’t fussy about soil type and will grow in the majority of well-drained soils.
There’s no need to prune Holly Olive but you can maintain the symmetry or remove crossed branches in winter.
A thick layer of mulch in spring traps moisture and cuts down weed competition as well as providing plenty of nutrients for the approaching season.