In which month of the year does osmanthus usually bloom?

As the saying goes “In the eighth month, osmanthus blooms everywhere”, meaning osmanthus blooms in the eighth month, and the eighth month here refers to the lunar calendar, which roughly corresponds to September-October on the Gregorian calendar, that is, during autumn, which gives rise to the saying “enjoying osmanthus in golden autumn”. The osmanthus here generally refers to the three varieties “Jingui” (golden osmanthus), “Yingui” (silver osmanthus), and “Dangui” (orange osmanthus), which are also collectively called “August osmanthus”. There is also another kind of osmanthus that blooms all year round, called “Sijigui” (four-season osmanthus).

Bloom times of different osmanthus varieties

Different varieties of osmanthus bloom at different times, and the colors of the flowers are also different. Let us take a look below at the flowering periods of different osmanthus varieties!

1. Jingui (golden osmanthus): blooming period September-October, color golden yellow.

2. Yingui (silver osmanthus): blooming period September-October, color white or yellowish white.

3. Dangui (orange osmanthus): blooming period October, color orange-red or orange-yellow.

4. Sijigui (four-season osmanthus): a small number of flowers every month, color white.

In addition, different planting regions of osmanthus will also lead to slight differences in blooming time. In Shanghai, Anhui, and Jiangsu it basically blooms in October, in the Northeast area it basically blooms in August, in the Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei area it is September, and in the Sichuan, Guangxi, and Shaanxi area it blooms in September.

Note: Osmanthus will not bloom before it reaches blooming age. Osmanthus has a long lifespan, generally living from several decades to several hundred years, and some even live to a thousand years, so its blooming age is also relatively late. Seed-grown seedlings take about ten years to bloom, cuttings take four years to bloom, grafted Jingui and Yingui have one-fifth blooming by the following year, and grafted Sijigui blooms in the same year but only a very small number. Some large transplanted osmanthus trees can bloom in the same year, while others need one or two years to adapt before blooming.