Little Ollie® Dwarf Olive
Olea europaea 'Montra' P.P.# 6,266
Dwarf, non-fruiting olive with a graceful, multi-branching habit. Deep green leaves have lighter silvery-green undersides. Attractive as a formal clipped hedge or featured as a specimen shrub, shaped to show off natural character. Excellent in topiary form, or trained as a single trunk tree in smaller spaces. Heat, drought and salt tolerant. Evergreen.
| Botanical Pronunciation: | OH-lee-a yu-RO-pee-a |
| Key feature: | Easy Care Plant |
| Plant type: | Shrub |
| Garden styles: | Contemporary, Mediterranean |
| Deciduous/evergreen: | Evergreen |
| Cold hardiness zones: | 8 - 11 |
| Light needs: | Full sun |
| Sunset climate zones: | 3 - 24, 29, 30, 33 |
| Water Needs: | Once established, needs only occasional watering. |
| Average landscape size: | Moderate growing to 4 to 6 ft. tall and wide. |
| Growth rate: | Moderate |
| Growth habit: | Compact, Round |
| Flower attribute: | Fragrant |
| Special features: | Deer Resistant, Dwarf Plant, Easy Care, Waterwise |
| Landscape uses: | Border, Container, Hedge, Seacoast Exposure |
| Blooms: | Does not flower |
| Foliage color: | Green |
| Item no.: | 6304 |
| Retailers for this plant: |
Care Information
Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring. Pruning time: winter.
Design Ideas
A small olive with all the Mediterranean look and feel without the size or the fruit. Shrub forms produce beautiful single plants, or line them up into a natural or sheared hedge. Particularly useful along driveways and streetside where reflected heat from paving and vehicles would wither less heat hardy species. Trained as patio trees they make outstanding potted specimens, a pair flanking a classical sculpture or an Italian style wall fountain is hard to beat. In ground these patio trees are ideal in vine pockets and along walkways where staccato repeats create bold a semiformal style.
Companion Plants
These little olives are perfect with Provence French Lavender, (Lavandula x intermedia 'Provence'), Lavatera x clementii 'Inovera'), Purple Delight Lilac Hibiscus, (Alygone huegelii 'Monle') and Tuscan Blue Rosemary, (Rosmarinus officinalis 'Tuscan Blue'). For brilliant color pair with more tender Oo-La-la Bougainvillea, (Bougainvillea 'Monka'), Anouska Princess Lilies, (Alstroemeria x 'Zaprinous'), and Lemon Swirl Bush Lantana, (Lantana camara 'Variegata').
History
This dwarf fruitless olive was introduced by Monrovia in 1987. Its ancestor is Olea europea, the fruiting olive of the Mediterranean which descended in antiquity from a scrubby wild olive known in the Holy Land. This Oleaster angustifolia contributes the shorter stature to the contemporary plants. The olive was first planted into Southern California by the mission padres and have contributed to the early landscape character of that region.
Lore
A symbol of peace and prosperity, the olive has a long history in the western world, beginning with the ancient Greeks, who named their city Athens after the goddess Athena gave them the olive tree.
Videos Featuring the Little Ollie® Dwarf Olive
Design Tips from Jamie Durie (01:55)
Landscape design can be easy if you follow a few basic rules. HGTV star...
Tabletop Topiaries (02:11)
Nicholas shows off an array of Tabletop Topiaries in mossy, terra cotta...
Dwarf, non-fruiting olive with a graceful, multi-branching habit. Deep green leaves have lighter silvery-green undersides. Attractive as a formal clipped hedge or featured as a specimen shrub, shaped to show off natural character. Excellent in topiary form, or trained as a single trunk tree in smaller spaces. Heat, drought and salt tolerant. Evergreen.
Care Information
Follow a regular watering schedule during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Watering can be reduced after establishment. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring. Pruning time: winter.
Design Ideas
A small olive with all the Mediterranean look and feel without the size or the fruit. Shrub forms produce beautiful single plants, or line them up into a natural or sheared hedge. Particularly useful along driveways and streetside where reflected heat from paving and vehicles would wither less heat hardy species. Trained as patio trees they make outstanding potted specimens, a pair flanking a classical sculpture or an Italian style wall fountain is hard to beat. In ground these patio trees are ideal in vine pockets and along walkways where staccato repeats create bold a semiformal style.
Companion Plants
These little olives are perfect with Provence French Lavender, (Lavandula x intermedia 'Provence'), Lavatera x clementii 'Inovera'), Purple Delight Lilac Hibiscus, (Alygone huegelii 'Monle') and Tuscan Blue Rosemary, (Rosmarinus officinalis 'Tuscan Blue'). For brilliant color pair with more tender Oo-La-la Bougainvillea, (Bougainvillea 'Monka'), Anouska Princess Lilies, (Alstroemeria x 'Zaprinous'), and Lemon Swirl Bush Lantana, (Lantana camara 'Variegata').
History
This dwarf fruitless olive was introduced by Monrovia in 1987. Its ancestor is Olea europea, the fruiting olive of the Mediterranean which descended in antiquity from a scrubby wild olive known in the Holy Land. This Oleaster angustifolia contributes the shorter stature to the contemporary plants. The olive was first planted into Southern California by the mission padres and have contributed to the early landscape character of that region.
Lore
A symbol of peace and prosperity, the olive has a long history in the western world, beginning with the ancient Greeks, who named their city Athens after the goddess Athena gave them the olive tree.
| Botanical Pronunciation: | OH-lee-a yu-RO-pee-a |
| Key feature: | Easy Care Plant |
| Plant type: | Shrub |
| Garden styles: | Contemporary, Mediterranean |
| Deciduous/evergreen: | Evergreen |
| Cold hardiness zones: | 8 - 11 |
| Light needs: | Full sun |
| Sunset climate zones: | 3 - 24, 29, 30, 33 |
| Water Needs: | Once established, needs only occasional watering. |
| Average landscape size: | Moderate growing to 4 to 6 ft. tall and wide. |
| Growth rate: | Moderate |
| Growth habit: | Compact, Round |
| Flower attribute: | Fragrant |
| Special features: | Deer Resistant, Dwarf Plant, Easy Care, Waterwise |
| Landscape uses: | Border, Container, Hedge, Seacoast Exposure |
| Blooms: | Does not flower |
| Foliage color: | Green |
| Item no.: | 6304 |
