When does osmanthus usually bloom each year?

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

Blooming times of different osmanthus cultivars

Different cultivars of osmanthus bloom at different times, and the flower colors are different too. Let us take a look below at the flowering periods of different osmanthus cultivars!

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

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

3. Dangui (orange osmanthus): flowering 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 can also cause slight differences in blooming time. In Shanghai, Anhui and Jiangsu it basically blooms in October, in the Northeast it basically blooms in August, in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei it is September, and in Sichuan, Guangxi and Shaanxi 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 with very few flowers. Some large transplanted osmanthus trees can bloom in the same year, while others need one or two years to adapt before blooming.