These photos were taken about 10 minutes ago (3:30 pm EST)...the tea olive not only has the misfortune to be here in cold Virginia but is sitting under the deck stairs:
Tea olives, or osmanthus fragrans, are wonderfully fragrant as you might guess from their name. The one pictured above is one of three varieties that I have. This particular one is the least hardy and as Wikipedia says "The plant is semi- to moderately-hardy and will survive light frost but will not survive a prolonged or hard freeze." Guess what we're having...
Hmph. Well, I hope you all will cross your fingers with me. I'd hate to lose it. This is its third winter here, but this is a particularly cold one we're having. It is sited well, protected (except from ice, apparently) has a good mulch and is facing west. It will need all the good wishes it can get!
It looks just like that here in Blacksburg as well - well, moreso yesterday. Everything was covered with a sheet of ice! The walk to class was a dangerous one because ice was breaking off and falling from trees everywhere!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are tough there in Blacksburg...still having class while everywhere else is closed! Stay away from those trees; there's only one of you!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to see you here!