Little Ollie® Dwarf Olive

Olea europaea 'Montra'

Sku #6304

Dwarf, non-fruiting evergreen with a graceful, multi-branching habit. Deep green leaves have silvery green undersides. Attractive as a formal hedge or specimen shrub. Excellent in topiary form, or trained as a single trunk tree in smaller spaces. Heat, drought and salt tolerant.

Light Needs

Full sun

Light Needs
Water Needs

Once established, water occasionally; more in extreme heat or containers.
USDA Zone ?

There are very few rules in gardening, but perhaps the most important one is to work within your zone. Choosing plants that grow and thrive in your particular climate is the very first step toward having a beautiful garden. Learn More

8 - 11

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Detail

Key Feature

Fruitless Dwarf Specimen

Light Needs

Full sun

Landscape Uses

Border, Coastal Exposure, Container, Hedge, Specimen

Watering Needs:Once established, water occasionally; more in extreme heat or containers.

Botanical Pronunciation:OH-lee-a yoo-ROH-pee-ah

Plant type:Shrub

Deciduous/evergreen:Evergreen

Sunset climate zones:3 - 24, 29, 30, 33

Growth habit:Compact, Rounded

Growth rate:Moderate

Average landscape size:Moderate growing; reaches 4 to 6 ft. tall and wide.

Special features:Dwarf Plant, Easy Care, Gift Plant, Heat Loving, Waterwise, Year-round Interest

Foliage color:Green

Blooms:Inconspicuous; prized for foliage.

Garden styleContemporary, Mediterranean, Rustic

Design IdeasA 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 street side 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 semi-formal style.

Companion PlantsRosemary (Rosmarinus); Bay Laurel (Laurus); Pomegranate (Punica); Lavender (Lavandula); Meyer Lemon (Citrus)

Care

Care Information

Thrives in average to lean, well-drained soils. Water deeply and regularly during the first growing season to establish an extensive root system. Reduce frequency once established in the landscape; continue to water container plants regularly. Feed with a general purpose fertilizer before new growth begins in spring.Pruning time: winter.

History & Lore

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.

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