in my experience with tea olive, the fragrance can be strong at times, depending on weather conditions. when mine flowers (fall and winter here), if i am near it in the early mornings or at night when it is cool and perhaps damp from dew, i can not detect a fragrance. however, as the air warms and especially on dry autumn days with high air pressure, it will waft a long distance from the shrub, smelling just like apricots to me. also notice the same scenario with nicotiana and even petunias. check the box store garden centers in your area. they stock them here (i want to say about $6.00 for a 2' tall plant)and they should be blooming now.

Ahh...what great responses!! (hi Kat! *wavin*) I'm REALLY glad I have this plant, now! It happened that I have it - quite by accident. I was really looking for sweet almond (which I've since purchased) and asked for sweet olive, instead. DUH...but, it has bloomed and does smell grand - as does the sweet almond! We're going to dig up a penta that is near the patio and move that somewhere else...the sweet Olive will go there in it's place. We won't even see it right now because there is a drape of moonflower vines all across that end of the patio. I love all your descriptions and comments! Thanks.

Best time to take cuttings August thru Sept. Use semi-hardwood to hardwood cuttings.weith a HEEL taken from a side branch. Apply 0.8% IBA (Rooting hormone) takes 30-100 days to root.

Hi Lou and all. I've had one growing in unimproved thin alkaline 'soil' over limestone at my place for nearly 20 years. Not knowing any better at that time I just dug a hole and plopped it in. It is in a shady spot next to the house right outside my kitchen window and is taller than the overhang. Amazingly I rarely give it extra water or even fertilize it. It gets water off the roof when it rains. It is a dark green and blooms from now until spring and sporatically after that. Here is a clickable thumbnail photo I just now took: It might grow larger and fuller and produce bigger blooms in improved soil, but I have no complaints about it. The blooms are very fragrant, but I don't find that the fragrance wafts much, but that is probably due to a lack in my 'smeller.' Happy gardening!