How to grow Orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata) and things to note, and when does it bloom?

Growing Techniques Jan 1, 1970 0 views

Orange Jessamine is famous for its fragrance, with a rich, highly enticing floral scent. Orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata) has a graceful plant shape and elegant branches and leaves, with high ornamental value, and can also be made into bonsai for viewing. Do you still remember the song "Orange Jessamine" that Jay Chou made famous back in the day? Hearing this name now brings back a wave of memories. So you know the song,

How to correctly grow Orange Jessamine and what to note

1. How to prune Orange Jessamine

When new shoots reach 15cm in height, the terminal buds need to be removed, keeping only 6-8cm of height. Repeat this several times to make the crown full and attractive.

After the plant takes shape, it will continue to grow, and at this point we need to regularly maintain a graceful plant shape by pruning it. Orange Jessamine branches have extremely strong sprouting ability, so it needs frequent pruning to maintain a beautiful tree shape.

2. How to water Orange Jessamine

1. Orange Jessamine likes a moist environment, so the potting soil should be kept moist. Too dry will cause it to wither and die; too much standing water will cause root rot and stop its development.

2. Water Orange Jessamine appropriately during cultivation. Controlling water before bud formation helps flower bud differentiation. After buds form, keep the potting soil moist but not waterlogged.

3. In summer and autumn, water once in the morning and once in the evening. In spring, water once a day or every other day. In winter, the amount of watering can be appropriately reduced, and watering once about a month is most suitable. In addition, during the rainy season or plum rain weather, stop watering to prevent root rot in Orange Jessamine.

3. How to fertilize Orange Jessamine

1. When turning the soil or repotting Orange Jessamine, an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer should be added to the potting soil.

2. During the growing period, apply a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer once about every half month. If only phosphorus fertilizer is applied alone, it will cause the leaves to [yellow] and fail to form buds. During the peak growing season, apply a dilute cake fertilizer once every 3-4 weeks.

3. In spring, spray a monopotassium phosphate solution on the leaves once a month, and the remainder can be poured at the roots to promote flower bud differentiation.

4. To prevent frost damage, fertilization is generally not carried out in autumn. In winter, depending on the different growth conditions and growth stages of Orange Jessamine, an appropriate application of a nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium compound organic fertilizer can be made once.

4. Temperature for Orange Jessamine

The suitable growing temperature for Orange Jessamine is 20°C-32°C. If the outdoor temperature is below 8°C, it should be placed indoors for care. Too low a room temperature will affect the plant's growth, and if it is below 0°C, it will freeze to death.

5. Light for Orange Jessamine

Orange Jessamine likes sunny and warm places, so sufficient sunlight can make it grow lush and vibrant. During the flowering period of Orange Jessamine, it needs to be placed on a balcony behind a window, away from the window, and then placed in sunlight after the flowers fade.

In shady places, Orange Jessamine will grow poorly, causing the floral fragrance to become faint, the flower color to be pale, or no flowers at all. When brought indoors in winter, it should also be placed in a spot with sufficient sunlight.

6. How to repot Orange Jessamine

Potted Orange Jessamine should be repotted once every 2-3 years. Autumn and late spring are the best times, and repotting is not suitable in winter.

Determine the pot size according to the size of the Orange Jessamine branches and stems.

When repotting, you can combine root trimming and soil replacement, appropriately pruning the root system. When removing from the pot, retain about 30% of the old potting soil, then move it into a new pot to ensure normal growth during the transfer process. Cut off rotten roots and some old roots, and handle according to the potting process.

When does Orange Jessamine bloom

1. When does Orange Jessamine bloom

Orange Jessamine has a relatively long flowering period, generally blooming between April and September each year, and sometimes it also blooms in autumn and winter. After Orange Jessamine blooms, it produces fruit, with the fruiting period between September and December.

2. Flowering form of Orange Jessamine

The flowers of Orange Jessamine are mainly terminal or axillary, generally bearing fewer than 10 flowers, and up to more than 50 at most. The petals of Orange Jessamine are oblanceolate or long ovate, and when fully open they curl somewhat. The flowers are mainly white but carry some pale yellow oil dots. The flowers of Orange Jessamine are accompanied by a very rich fragrance.

Get to know the mysterious mosquito-repellent plant

As summer approaches, more and more people are troubled by mosquitoes and insects, so they choose to keep a pot of mosquito-repellent plant at home to help purify the environment. But many friends also bought mosquito-repellent plants and after keeping them at home for a while found they were useless. So can mosquito-repellent plants actually repel mosquitoes? And how should mosquito-repellent plants be selected? The editor will tell you the secrets about mosquito-repellent plants.

Mosquito-repellent plant

I. Are mosquito-repellent plants useful

The mosquito-repellent plant uses its own unique release system as a carrier to continuously release citronellal substances into the air. At the same time, it is also implanted with plant DNA (gene) structures containing fresh scents and air-purifying effects, forming a "natural evaporator," thus filling the air with fragrance and achieving a mosquito-repellent effect. Especially in hot summer, it makes people feel refreshed and relaxed. It truly achieves biological natural mosquito repellence without spraying chemicals or using smoke, with no side effects whatsoever. Undoubtedly, mosquito-repellent citronella is a perfect combination of nature and modern high-tech bioengineering, and is the most ideal mosquito-repellent product for humans. The introduction of this product has epoch-making significance for improving and maintaining the living, working, and learning environment of modern humans. There is still no definitive proof that the fragrance emitted by aromatic plants such as mosquito-repellent plants and night-blooming jasmine is harmful to the human body.

It is understood that mosquito-repellent plants are still very much in demand this year, with citizens coming from time to time to ask about buying them. The mosquito-repellent plant is a perennial herbaceous plant, known as an "ecological air filter." This potted plant can release a mellow essential oil scent, which can both purify the air and produce a good mosquito-repellent effect. But its drawback is that it is relatively difficult to care for; when it grows tall it needs pruning, and if it is not cared for properly after purchase, it easily withers. The oddly shaped pitcher plant (Nepenthes), with its long "bags," also catches the eye of many consumers coming to buy mosquito-repellent plants. This plant, nicknamed the "mosquito and fly nemesis," has a killer move of releasing a sweet fragrance to attract mosquitoes and insects. Any mosquito or insect that falls into its trap generally cannot escape. However, this plant is native to the tropics and has very demanding environmental requirements, making it difficult to keep alive in a home environment. The snow-white, pure-petaled Orange Jessamine is also quite popular; its leaves have a strong pungent, sweet fragrance and have a mosquito-repellent effect. However, this plant also needs careful tending and requires timely watering and pruning.

Mosquito-repellent plant

II. Varieties of mosquito-repellent plants

Generally in the market, the price of buying a real mosquito-repellent plant is around 8 to 15 yuan.

1. Orange Jessamine as a mosquito-repellent plant. This is an evergreen small shrub, with a corymb-like shape, many branches, dense foliage, small glossy leaves, and abundant white flowers. After flowering it can also bear red berries. With frequent pruning, its plant shape is elegant and generous, adding beauty to a humble room. Its leaves have a strong pungent, sweet fragrance, and its mosquito-repellent effect is very good.

2. Insect-eating grass as a mosquito-repellent plant. A herbaceous plant of the Asteraceae family, it can grow to about one meter tall, with small yellow flowers, and a single plant can have hundreds of flower heads. The outer bracts of each flower head have sticky liquid, like 5 extended little fingers, which is very interesting. As long as a small mosquito or insect lands on it, it will be stuck. Afterward, the insect corpse is slowly digested as nutrients for its growth. If dust sticks to it, after a few days it is also digested without a trace. Placed as a potted plant at home, it catches mosquitoes and absorbs dust.

3. Lantana as a mosquito-repellent plant. Its branches, leaves, and flowers emit a scent that mosquitoes and flies are sensitive to, with a strong effect of repelling mosquitoes and flies, while causing no harm to the human body. It not only has a good effect on repelling mosquitoes and flies, but also has brilliant flower colors. The flowers come in red, yellow, white, and other colors. When the flowers first open, they are often yellow or pink, then gradually change to orange-yellow or orange-red, and finally red, which is why it has the reputation of "mosquito-repellent seven-change flower." Placed by the window, it is pleasing to the eye.

4. Night-blooming jasmine (Cestrum nocturnum) as a mosquito-repellent plant. Mosquitoes are afraid of the strong scent of night-blooming jasmine, so placing fragrant flowers indoors can naturally achieve a mosquito-repellent effect. These flowers are mostly elegant and clear, easy to grow, and not expensive. In addition, when they bloom in summer, the green and white contrast makes people easily feel cool. However, according to relevant experts, the fragrance of flowers such as night-blooming jasmine often refreshes the heart when first smelled, but after smelling it for a long time, because it is too strong, there may be discomfort. It is recommended to move the potted flowers outdoors during the day.

As long as you correctly understand mosquito-repellent plants and choose the right ones, then keeping them indoors or on the balcony in summer can still have a certain effect. That is all for the introduction to mosquito-repellent plants. Friends in need should hurry to the flower and bird market to buy a pot.

Osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) Osmanthus profile: how to grow osmanthus / how to propagate osmanthus

Osmanthus profile
Osmanthus Osmanthus fragrans
How to grow osmanthus and things to note, introduction to osmanthus
Osmanthus (English: Sweet Olive), Oleaceae family, Osmanthus genus, also known as "rock osmanthus" and "wood osmanthus," commonly called osmanthus tree. It is an evergreen shrub or small tree, a temperate tree species. Leaves are opposite, mostly elliptical or long elliptical, with smooth leaf surfaces, leathery, and serrated leaf margins. Flowers are clustered, with the corolla split to the base, in colors including milky white, yellow, orange-red, and others. In China, more than 20 cities, including Xinyang City, Quzhou City, and Hanzhong City, use osmanthus as their city flower or city tree. Osmanthus is admired by the world for its calm and steadfast character. "Zai Jing Tang Ji - Jiangnan Jingshi Shigao - Osmanthus": "The jade tree stands quietly as the severe season comes; after a thousand flowers have fallen, its flowers bloom. Pure and steadfast, it creates a realm of pure fragrance; the earth's desolation depends on it to be redeemed." Related plays and songs include "August Osmanthus Blooms Everywhere," etc.
Morphological characteristics of osmanthus
Osmanthus is an evergreen shrub or small tree, a temperate tree species. Leaves are opposite, mostly elliptical or long elliptical, with smooth leaf surfaces, leathery, and serrated leaf margins.
Osmanthus flowers are clustered, with the corolla split to the base, in colors including milky white, yellow, orange-red, and others.

Ecological habits of osmanthus
Osmanthus adapts to subtropical climate regions and likes warmth and moisture. The average temperature in cultivation areas is 14-28°C, the average July temperature is 24-28°C, the average January temperature is above 0°C, it can tolerate a minimum temperature of -13°C, and the most suitable growing temperature is 15-28°C. Humidity is extremely important for the growth and development of osmanthus, requiring an annual average humidity of 75%-85% and annual precipitation of about 1000 millimeters. Especially during the young stage and when adult trees bloom, more water is needed. If drought occurs, it will affect flowering. Strong sunlight and shade are unfavorable to its growth, and it generally requires 6-8 hours of light per day.
Osmanthus likes a warm environment and is suitable for growing in deep, well-drained, fertile, humus-rich, slightly acidic sandy soil. It is not tolerant of drought and barrenness. In shallow, compacted, and infertile soil, it grows especially slowly, with sparse branches and leaves, small thin leaves, yellowed leaf color, no flowering or very little flowering, and even periodic dieback of the top, and in severe cases the entire osmanthus plant dies. It likes sunlight but has a certain tolerance for shade. Young trees need some shade, and after maturity they require relatively sufficient light to ensure normal growth of osmanthus. According to observation, when one side of a single osmanthus tree crown is close to a wall, or when the crowns of two osmanthus trees overlap, the side close to the wall or the overlapping part of the crown quickly becomes sparse, affecting the overall shape and beauty of the crown.
It can be seen that osmanthus is suitable for planting in ventilated and light-transmitting places. Osmanthus likes a clean and ventilated environment and is not tolerant of smoke and dust damage; after being damaged, it often cannot bloom. It fears waterlogging and standing water. If harmed by waterlogging, the root system turns black and rots, the leaves first have scorched leaf tips, then the whole leaf turns yellow and falls off, and then the entire plant dies. It is not very cold-resistant, but compared with other evergreen broadleaf tree species, it is still a relatively cold-resistant tree species, which provides more possibilities for potted osmanthus in the north.

Cultivation techniques and key points for osmanthus
1. Planting: It should be chosen in spring or autumn, especially best on cloudy or rainy days. Choose a ventilated, well-drained, and warm place; either sufficient light or a semi-shady environment is acceptable. When transplanting, a soil ball must be prepared to ensure the survival rate. The planting soil should be slightly acidic; alkaline soil is taboo. For potted osmanthus, the potting soil ratio is 2 parts leaf mold, 3 parts garden soil, 3 parts sandy soil, and 2 parts decomposed cake fertilizer. Mix them evenly, then pot or repot, which can be done before spring germination.
2. Light and temperature: South of the Yellow River basin, it can be cultivated outdoors to overwinter. Potted plants should be moved indoors in winter and placed in a sunny place so they fully receive direct sunlight. The room temperature should be kept above 5°C but must not exceed 10°C. After germination in April of the following year, move them outdoors, first placing them in a wind-sheltered, sunny place for care. After stable growth, gradually move them to a ventilated, sunny, or semi-shady environment, and then carry out normal management. Insufficient light during the growing period affects flower bud differentiation.
3. Watering and fertilizing: Before field planting, grass ash and organic fertilizer should first be mixed into the planting hole, and after planting, water once thoroughly. Keep the soil moist before new shoots emerge, and do not apply fertilizer water. Generally, apply nitrogen fertilizer once in spring and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer once in summer to make the flowers abundant and leaves lush. Before winter, apply overwintering organic fertilizer once, mainly decomposed cake fertilizer and barnyard manure. Avoid concentrated fertilizer, especially human waste. Potted osmanthus should be placed in a low-temperature greenhouse in the northern winter, and indoors attention should be paid to ventilation and light transmission, with less watering. After being moved out in April, the water amount can be appropriately increased. During the peak growing season, an appropriate amount of dilute fertilizer water can be applied, and during the flowering season the fertilizer water can be slightly more concentrated.
4. Shaping and pruning: Determine according to the tree, set the large framework according to the tree posture, and remove other suckers, overly dense branches, vigorous water sprouts, crossing branches, and diseased and weak branches to allow ventilation and light transmission. For trees that are strong at the top and weak at the bottom, the upper branches can be cut back by 1/3 to make the overall tree vigor strong. At the same time, apply a wound-healing antiseptic film to the pruning cuts to protect the wounds.
5. Planting osmanthus in the north: Generally speaking, osmanthus is widely planted in the Huai River basin and areas to the south. Its suitable growing area can reach as far north as the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and as far south as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. However, Beijing and Qingdao can also grow osmanthus. In "300 Questions on Home Flower Growing" by "Feng Tianzhe," it is said that in winter, after young osmanthus trees enter winter, water once with antifreeze water and cultivate soil at the base of the tree to protect the roots, then wrap the trunk and branches with 7 layers of thick newspaper, and it can overwinter outdoors in Beijing. After three years, there is no need to wrap it again for winter.

Key points for cultivating container-grown osmanthus
I. Frost protection measures: Osmanthus is slightly cold-tolerant. Container-grown osmanthus from cuttings potted in the same year is prone to frost damage and generally should be moved into a greenhouse before the temperature drops below 0°C.
II. Pest and disease control: Osmanthus is prone to anthracnose, brown spot disease, leaf blight, leaf and branch disease, leaf roller moths, whiteflies, scale insects, bagworms, stinging moths, osmanthus leafhoppers, and other pests and diseases. Timely observation and timely spraying for control are required.

Cultivation management
In the warm areas of the Yangtze River basin and to the south, field planting is mostly practiced. For field planting, choose a site with sufficient sunlight, good drainage, deep topsoil, and light pollution. The planting hole for osmanthus should be dug deep and wide, and more barnyard manure, grass ash, and other materials should be applied as base fertilizer. When planting, large seedlings must carry a soil ball to ensure transplant survival. Planting should not be too deep. After the seedlings survive and recover, apply fertilizer once together with watering. After the flowers fade in winter, apply base fertilizer once. When buds sprout and new leaves emerge in spring, apply a quick-acting fertilizer mainly of nitrogen once. In July before flowering, apply a quick-acting fertilizer mainly of phosphorus and potassium once. In October, apply a slow-release fertilizer mainly of organic matter once, which can make growth and flowering good. Before flowering, attention should be paid to irrigation; during flowering, water should be controlled, otherwise too much water easily causes flower drop. Pruning should be done after flowering in autumn. Heavy pruning is not suitable; only diseased and pest-damaged branches, thin and weak branches, incomplete branches, inward-growing branches, and vigorous water sprouts need to be pruned. Usually, attention should also be paid to pest and disease control.
In North China, because winters are cold, osmanthus is not suitable for field cultivation and is mostly grown in pots. Potted soil requirements are not strict; mountain soil or a mix of leaf mold, garden soil, river sand, etc. can be used, and a slightly acidic pH is best. If the pH value is too low, growth will be slow and leaves easily turn yellow, so some lime powder or grass ash can be added to adjust it; if the pH value is too high, leaves easily wither and even die, so some ferrous sulfate or aluminum sulfate can be added for improvement.
Potted osmanthus is transplanted and potted before spring bud germination or after autumn flowering. After transplanting well, water once thoroughly, move to a shady place for 7-10 days, and only after growth resumes and new leaves emerge can normal watering and fertilizing begin. The potting soil moisture is best at 50% water content. Before new shoots appear and on cloudy and rainy days, water less. In summer and autumn when the weather is dry, more watering is needed. When flowering in autumn, do not water too much to prevent flower drop. On cloudy and rainy days, avoid standing water, otherwise long-term standing water will cause root rot. For fertilizing potted osmanthus, refer to field cultivation fertilizing.
Osmanthus has a well-developed root system and strong sprouting ability. Adult osmanthus trees send out new shoots twice each year in spring and autumn, so appropriate and timely pruning is required. Pruning should be done after autumn flowering or before spring germination. The purpose of pruning is to maintain the physiological balance between reproductive growth and vegetative growth, making osmanthus flowers abundant and leaves lush. Pruning should remove overly dense branches, vigorous water sprouts, incomplete branches, and diseased and pest-damaged branches. During the growing period, cut off sucker branches to help concentrate nutrients and make flowering abundant. [12] The suitable growth temperature for osmanthus is 25-28°C. Above 30°C is unfavorable for growth and development, and below -6°C it is prone to frost damage. The room temperature for safe overwintering of potted plants is more suitable between 0-10°C. In the north, move osmanthus indoors in late autumn, keep the potting soil slightly moist, and let it fully go dormant to facilitate flowering the next year. After Qingming the following year, move it to a ventilated and sunny place for care. Potted osmanthus should be repotted and soil-changed once every 1-2 years, with sufficient base fertilizer applied.

Propagation methods of osmanthus

Propagation methods: There are many propagation methods for osmanthus, including sowing, grafting, layering, and cutting.
1. Seed propagation
Growing seedlings from seed takes a long time to reach flowering, so home flower growers mostly do not use this method.
Osmanthus fruit matures from April to May. When the fruit skin changes from green to purplish-black, it can be harvested. Osmanthus seeds have after-ripening and need at least half a year of sand storage. After harvesting, sprinkle water and pile them to ferment, remove the fruit pulp, place in a cool place to let the seeds dry naturally, and store mixed with sand. After sand storage, they can be sown in autumn or spring. During sand storage, check frequently to prevent seed mildew or rat damage. Seed propagation generally uses the drill sowing method. Before sowing, prepare the land well and apply sufficient base fertilizer; it can also be sown in indoor seedbeds. When sowing, place the seed hilum sideways to avoid bending the radicle and young stem, which would affect seedling growth later. After sowing, cover with a layer of fine soil, then cover with grass to provide shade and moisture, and keep the soil moist frequently. Seedlings can emerge in the same year. About 20kg of seed is used per mu, producing about 30,000 seedlings. Young seedlings grow in the seedbed for 2 years, and in the 3rd year can be transplanted for cultivation. Seed-grown seedlings flower relatively late, only showing flowers after 8-10 years of planting.
2. Grafting propagation
Grafting rootstocks are mostly privet (Ligustrum lucidum), small-leaf privet, waxleaf privet, water wax, white wax, and fringetree (also known as oil scholar and ox-tendon tree). When mass-propagating seedlings, the north mostly uses small-leaf privet. Before spring germination, cut the rootstock at 5cm above the ground; cut 1-2-year-old strong osmanthus branches 10-12cm long, shave one side of the base into a 2-3cm cut surface, and shave the opposite side into a 45-degree small bevel; make a vertical cut about 1/3 of the way on one side of the rootstock, about 2-3cm deep; insert the scion into the cut, align the cambium, tie tightly with a plastic bag, and then bury in soil for cultivation. Using small-leaf privet as rootstock gives a high survival rate, and grafted seedlings grow quickly but have a short lifespan and easily form the "small foot" phenomenon of being "thick on top and thin at the bottom." Using water wax as rootstock gives slow growth but a longer lifespan. Potted osmanthus is mostly propagated by approach grafting. Using fringetree as rootstock, approach grafting should be carried out in the growing season, not in the rainy season or dog days. During approach grafting, select scion and rootstock with similar branch thickness, cut the scion at an appropriate place into a spindle-shaped cut reaching the xylem, about 3-4cm long, cut the rootstock at the same height into a cut matching the size of the scion, then place the two cuts together so their cambium layers bind tightly, tie tightly with plastic strips, and after healing, cut off the rootstock above the graft union and the scion below it. The root system of grafted seedlings varies with the rootstock; cuttings buried in soil easily produce adventitious roots everywhere, but there is no obvious main root. Osmanthus has strong branching ability and low branching points, especially obvious in youth, so it often appears shrubby over time. After dense planting or pruning, it can form an obvious trunk. The bark is rough, gray-brown or gray-white, sometimes showing lenticels. The leaf surface is smooth, leathery, dark bright green on the adaxial side and lighter on the abaxial side; elliptical, long elliptical, ovate, obovate, lanceolate, oblanceolate, long lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate.
3. Cutting propagation
Before spring germination, use one-year-old fully developed branches, cut them into 5-10cm lengths, remove the lower leaves, keep 2-3 green leaves at the top, and insert them into river sand or loess seedbeds at a spacing of 3cm x 20cm. After inserting, water or spray promptly, provide shade, maintain a temperature of 20-25°C and relative humidity of 85%-90%, and after 2 months they can root and be transplanted. [12] 4. Layering propagation can be divided into low layering and air layering. Low layering of osmanthus must use low-branching or clustered mother plants. The time is from spring to early summer. Select relatively strong low-trunk mother trees, choose 1-2-year-old branches on the lower part, select an easily bendable part, cut or ring-bark with a sharp knife down to the xylem, then press into a 3-5cm deep trench, and fix the pressed branch with a wooden stick, leaving only the tip and leaves outside. The air layering method is to select 1-2-year-old strong branches from the mother tree in spring, cut a ring or ring-bark in the same way as low layering, or make a cut from the lower side 6-9cm long, then apply culture medium to the wound, tie tightly with plastic bags above and below, and during the cultivation process always keep the medium moist. After rooting in autumn, cut it off from the mother plant for care.

Selecting osmanthus seeds
Seed propagation of osmanthus is the fastest, but common methods are cutting or layering. However, sowing is the best way for mass propagation of osmanthus. Not all osmanthus seeds are suitable for growing osmanthus seedlings. The mother tree selected for seed must be over 18 years old, as such osmanthus seeds will have a higher germination rate and the seedlings grown will be more resistant.
A large portion of osmanthus seeds are picked before they mature, and it is even less possible to guarantee that the osmanthus tree age is over 18 years. Because the mother trees are contracted year-round, quality has a certain guarantee. When selecting seeds, choose clean seeds, with a golden-yellow color, pointed at one end and shield-shaped at the other. Once the seeds are selected, you must learn to store them. Store the seeds well in moist sand, and the field chemical management the next year will also be reduced.

How to grow osmanthus 1. Why is Four Seasons Osmanthus not fragrant?
Answer: The reason Four Seasons Osmanthus blooms year-round but is not fragrant is that the variety itself has a relatively light fragrance. Among common osmanthus varieties, the strongest fragrance is Dan Gui, followed by Jin Gui, then Yin Gui, while Four Seasons Osmanthus has the lightest fragrance. As an economic crop it is rarely cultivated, precisely because its flowering is sparse and its fragrance is not strong; as an ornamental potted plant, it is valued because its tree shape is beautiful and it blooms in all four seasons, making it suitable for potted viewing. Four Seasons Osmanthus mostly grows in clusters, with yellow-white flowers, relatively sparse, light fragrance, and a long flowering period. Generally, except in severe winter and intense summer heat, it can bloom once about every two months, with a slightly stronger fragrance in autumn and lighter at other times. Its varieties include large-leaf Four Seasons Osmanthus and small-leaf Four Seasons Osmanthus. If Yueyue Gui lacks light and phosphorus fertilizer during cultivation, its floral fragrance will be faint. If the plant is placed in a sunny and ventilated environment and top-dressed once every 10 days, with appropriate additional phosphorus fertilizer, the fragrance of the flowers can be increased to a certain extent, but it still cannot match other varieties.
2. Why does potted osmanthus not bloom?
Answer: First, insufficient light. Osmanthus likes light. During the vegetative growth period, when the light intensity is below 60℃, its growth and development decline, vegetative growth worsens, and the number of flowers decreases. When light is seriously insufficient, because photosynthesis weakens, nutrient accumulation is low, so it cannot bloom. Therefore, sufficient light must be provided. Second, lack of fertilizer. Osmanthus has a relatively large amount of growth and flowering, requiring the consumption of large amounts of nutrients. Poor potting soil or insufficient fertility will also affect the plant's growth and flowering. Therefore, during shoot emergence, apply nitrogen-based fertilizer 1-2 times, and from the flower bud differentiation period (starting at the end of May) to before flowering, apply phosphorus-based fertilizer 2-3 times. Third, potting soil too wet. Osmanthus avoids excessive moisture and standing water. Waterlogging can cause root rot and lead to poor growth and failure to bloom, and in severe cases can also cause the death of the potted plant. Watering should follow the principle of "do not water if not dry; when watering, water thoroughly." After heavy rain and rainstorms, promptly pour out standing water from the pot. Special attention should be paid to the weather after rain clears, and even more care should be taken to avoid damaging the root system. Fourth, soil is alkaline. Osmanthus likes slightly acidic soil, with a pH value of 5.5-6.5 being suitable. Osmanthus growing in alkaline soil often grows poorly and has affected flowering. Fifth, smoke and dust pollution. Osmanthus is not tolerant of smoke, dust, and pollution. When there is too much smoke and dust or after pollution, the leaves become smaller, easily fall off, and there appears the phenomenon of only growing leaves and not blooming. Sixth, it has not reached flowering age.
3. What edible and health benefits does osmanthus have?
Answer: Osmanthus tea has the effect of clearing fragrance and refreshing the mind. After briefly blanching osmanthus in boiling water, take it out and dry it, then preserve it with white sugar and seal it in a bottle to maintain color and fragrance; it can be used as a food spice. Mix osmanthus and pure lotus root starch with white sugar and brew, and it becomes osmanthus lotus root starch, which is delicious and appetizing. Take top-grade small jujubes, cook with sugar, and when the soup is almost gone, add osmanthus to make spleen-strengthening and appetite-opening osmanthus candied jujubes. Gui Zhi (cinnamon twig), Gui Zi (osmanthus seed), and Gui Gen (osmanthus root) can all be used as medicine. Gui Zhi Tang, prepared from cinnamon twig, peony, ginger, jujube, and licorice, is specifically used to treat externally contracted wind pathogen, fever, and headache. Osmanthus root tastes sweet and slightly astringent.
4. How to thaw frozen osmanthus?
Answer: In early winter, osmanthus is invaded by cold waves and is highly prone to frost damage. In affected plants, the concentration of the intercellular solution in the body increases, and the protoplasm severely dehydrates, causing tender leaves to shrink. In this situation, if you rush to place the affected potted plant in a high-temperature or direct-sunlight place, it will instead accelerate the death of the osmanthus. The correct method is to take slow thawing measures so that the cells gradually absorb water and return to normal. In this situation, you can also quickly wrap the potted flower with three layers of highly absorbent waste newspaper, including the pot. When wrapping, be careful not to damage the branches and leaves of the potted flower, and avoid direct sunlight. Leave it like this for a day so that the temperature of the potted flower gradually rises. After this treatment, the frozen potted flower can revive.
5. How to make the osmanthus plant shape grow symmetrically?
Answer: First, when planting osmanthus, place the plant in the center of the pot. After watering thoroughly, straighten any tilted plant to lay a good foundation for future cultivation. Second, prune reasonably. When pruning, pay attention to the overall appearance of the plant, pay attention to retaining buds, and try to let terminal buds grow toward empty spaces. Prune strong branches heavily, cut off useless weak branches, and retain and lightly prune those needed to fill gaps. Third, moderately tie the potted flower. If a certain direction has a large gap, you can use tying to guide dense branches toward the gap. Fourth, frequently rotate the pot. For osmanthus that does not need pruning, frequently rotate the pot so that new branches can be induced by sunlight at the gaps. Rotating the pot: throughout the year, the sun always moves along its orbit, so the angle and intensity of light are always changing. If the flower pot is fixed in one position for a long time, one side of the plant always fails to get appropriate light, and over time the round potted plant will grow unevenly due to uneven sunlight. Therefore, during the growing season, rotate the flower pot 45° every 10 days. Frequently rotating the flower pot allows all angles and directions of the plant to grow evenly, the side branches around the trunk to be neat and consistent, and the leaves to receive sunlight evenly. Thus, the plant's shape and posture can be full and beautiful, achieving the ornamental effect from every angle, and making the branches and leaves grow more stretched and beautiful.
6. Why does osmanthus easily die at the turn of winter and spring?
Answer: This should be examined from the management method. In addition to providing appropriate water and sufficient light, not fertilizing osmanthus in winter and placing it in a cool and cold environment is especially important. The reason osmanthus easily dies in winter is not that the environment is not warm enough, but that the environment is not cool enough. In the place of origin of osmanthus, winter is not warm. Osmanthus, which has adapted to this growing environment for thousands of years, when overwintering in a warm place, does not show any abnormality in the plant for the first period. On the contrary, it seems to forget that winter has arrived, growing buds and shoots, looking full of prosperity. But this situation cannot last long. Changes in indoor lighting and temperature and other factors cannot satisfy growth like in summer, and old leaves begin to fall off, new shoots wilt, and the plant dies. To make the osmanthus you grow overwinter safely, in winter place it in an environment of 0-5°C and give it sufficient sunlight; do not apply additional fertilizer, and avoid overly wet potting soil. After winter passes, you will find that the osmanthus you grow not only survived safely, but its growth vigor appears even stronger than those that barely survived overwintering in a high-temperature environment.
7. How to fertilize more reasonably?
Answer: (1) Reasonable fertilization should follow the principle of frequent application of thin fertilizer, mainly quick-acting nitrogen, with large seedlings fertilized 3 to 4 times a year. In early spring, when buds begin to swell and roots begin to become active, the osmanthus tree will absorb fertilizer. Therefore, in early spring the orchard should be fertilized to promote the growth of spring shoots. For flowers that open first on spring buds, strong spring shoot growth in the current year means more flowering in the future autumn. Osmanthus trees bloom in autumn; to restore tree vigor and supplement nutrients, inorganic fertilizer or mixed manure fertilizer is needed before winter. At the same time, according to the growth of osmanthus, fertilize once or twice. For newly transplanted osmanthus trees, the roots are damaged, so the absorption capacity is weak, and fertilizer should not be applied too early. Base fertilizer should be mixed evenly with the soil in the transplant pit before adding soil. The roots should not directly contact the fertilizer, so as not to burn the roots and affect the survival rate of the osmanthus tree.
(2) Fertilizer must be applied at the roots to be well absorbed. In this way, transplanting is easy to survive. When fertilizing seedlings, the plant root concentration should not be too far from the seedlings, otherwise the roots will expand outward. It should not be applied to the main trunk of the tree, because this is not conducive to fertilizer absorption.

Pest and disease control of osmanthus

Osmanthus brown spot disease, osmanthus blight, and osmanthus anthracnose are common leaf diseases of osmanthus. These diseases can cause early leaf drop in osmanthus, weaken plant growth vigor, and reduce osmanthus flower yield and ornamental value. The main pest in home osmanthus cultivation is mites, commonly known as red spiders. Once disease is found, it should be dealt with immediately. Mite Clear, Aphid-Mite Kill, and Azocyclotin can be used for foliar spraying. Both the front and back of the leaves must be evenly sprayed. Once a week, for 2-3 consecutive times, and it can be cured.
Osmanthus brown spot disease
In the early stage of the disease, small chlorotic yellow spots appear on the leaves, gradually expanding into nearly round lesions 2-10mm in diameter, or becoming irregular lesions because the expansion of the lesion is restricted by leaf veins. The lesions are yellow-brown to gray-brown, with a yellow halo around the outside of the lesion. Brown spot disease generally occurs from April to October, and old leaves are more susceptible than tender leaves. The pathogen overwinters as mycelium on diseased fallen leaves, and in spring of the following year produces conidia for primary infection. Conidia are spread by airflow and raindrops.
Osmanthus blight
The pathogen of this disease mostly invades from leaf margins and leaf tips, occurring at the leaf margins and leaf tips. In the early stage of the disease, light brown small spots appear on the leaves, gradually expanding into round or irregular lesions, then expanding into nearly round or irregular gray-brown large spots with dark brown edges. Blight occurs from July to November, and can occur year-round in poorly conditioned greenhouses. The pathogen spreads and infects via conidia through wind and water. High temperature, high humidity, and poor ventilation are conducive to the disease. When the plant grows weakly and on old leaves after overwintering and leaves on the lower part of the plant, the disease is more severe.
Osmanthus anthracnose
This disease infects osmanthus leaves. In the early stage of the disease, chlorotic small spots appear on the leaves, and after gradually expanding, round, semicircular, or elliptical lesions form. The lesions are light brown to gray-white, with a reddish-brown ring around the edge. Under humid conditions, light pinkish-red sticky spore discs appear on the lesions. Anthracnose occurs from April to June. The pathogen overwinters as acervuli in diseased fallen leaves and is spread by wind and rain.
Control measures
First, reduce the source of infection. Thoroughly remove diseased fallen leaves in autumn. For potted osmanthus, promptly remove diseased leaves. Second, strengthen cultivation management. Choose fertile, well-drained soil or substrate for planting osmanthus; increase the application of organic fertilizer and potassium fertilizer; planting density should be appropriate to facilitate ventilation and light transmission, reduce leaf surface humidity, and reduce the occurrence of disease. Scientifically use chemical control. In the early stage of the disease, spray Bordeaux mixture at 1:2:200 times, and afterward spray 50% carbendazim wettable powder at 1000 times or 50% benomyl wettable powder at 1000-1500 times. In severely affected areas, when seedlings leave the nursery, soak them in a 1000-times potassium permanganate solution for disinfection.

Introduction to osmanthus varieties

After long-term planting, natural hybridization, and artificial selection, osmanthus has produced many cultivated varieties. Through further investigation and sorting, 32 osmanthus varieties have been preliminarily determined.
By flower color, there are Jin Gui, Yin Gui, and Dan Gui; by leaf type, there are willow-leaf osmanthus, golden-fan osmanthus, drip-yellow, sunflower-leaf, and firewood-stalk-yellow; by flowering period, there are August osmanthus, Four Seasons Osmanthus, and Yueyue Jia, etc. [7] China does not yet have a unified variety classification, and by custom osmanthus is divided into the following four variety types: Jin Gui, Yin Gui, Dan Gui, and Four Seasons Osmanthus.

Four Seasons Osmanthus variety group: The plant is relatively short with more suckers. Its floral fragrance is not as rich as Yin Gui, Jin Gui, or Dan Gui. It blooms multiple times a year or continuously, with lemon-yellow or light yellow flowers. Varieties include large-leaf Four Seasons Osmanthus and small-leaf Four Seasons Osmanthus. It blooms in all four seasons, with varieties such as "Yueyue Gui," "Rixiang Gui," "Large-leaf Buddha Top Pearl," and "Toothed-leaf Four Seasons Osmanthus."
Yin Gui variety group: Blooms in autumn, with pure white, milky white, yellow-white, or light yellow flowers. Varieties include broad-leaf seed Yin Gui, willow-leaf Yin Gui, hard-leaf Yin Gui, "Seed Yin Gui," "Nine Dragon Gui," "Early Yin Gui," "Late Yin Gui," "White Clean," "Pure White Yin Gui," and "Green Mountain Yin Gui."
Jin Gui variety group: Blooms in autumn, with flowers from light lemon yellow to golden yellow. Varieties include "Large-flower Jin Gui," "Large-leaf Yellow," "Huangchuan Jin Gui," "Late Jin Gui," "Round-leaf Jin Gui," Xianning Late Gui, Ball Gui, Round-petal Jin Gui, Willow-leaf Su Gui, Jinshi Gui, and Wave-leaf Jin Gui.
Dan Gui variety group: Blooms in autumn, with relatively deep flower colors, from orange, orange-yellow, orange-red to vermilion. Varieties include "Cinnabar Dan Gui," "Large-leaf Dan Gui," "Small-leaf Dan Gui," and "Toothed Dan Gui."

Distribution areas of osmanthus

Garden osmanthus is native to the eastern section of the Himalayas in southwest China, and is also distributed in India, Nepal, and Cambodia. In southwestern China, Sichuan, southern Shaanxi, Yunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, and other places, wild osmanthus grows. It is now widely planted in the Huai River basin and areas to the south. Its suitable growing area can reach as far north as the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and as far south as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan.
This region has good hydrothermal conditions, suitable precipitation, and soil mostly yellow-brown or yellow-cinnamon soil, with vegetation mainly of the subtropical broadleaf forest type. Nurtured and influenced by the above conditions, osmanthus grows well, and several nationally famous osmanthus commercial production bases have formed in Lu'an, Anhui; Xianning, Hubei; Taoyuan, Hunan; Suzhou, Jiangsu; Guilin, Guangxi; Wuhan, Hubei; Hangzhou, Zhejiang; and Chengdu, Sichuan. And Hangzhou's city flower is precisely osmanthus.

Medicinal or dietary therapeutic value of osmanthus
The medical information and health dietary therapy information on Huahua Network is for reference only and cannot be used as a basis for diagnosis or medical treatment. Any health problem should be consulted with professional medical personnel, and the treatment of any disease should follow a doctor's advice.
Ultimate flower-protecting task: Love yourself, start from reality, and follow the doctor's advice carefully. For illness, do not be careless, do not delay, do not give up hope, face it bravely, use love to warm the silent world, and use your heart to care for the flower field within.

Medicinal Value and Herb Introduction: Oleaceae family, evergreen tree. Flowers are pale yellowish-white, fragrant; aromatic oil is extracted and osmanthus concrete is made, which can be used in food and cosmetics, for making cakes and candies, and for brewing wine. Osmanthus has a pungent taste and can be used as medicine.
Source: Osmanthus, a plant of the genus Osmanthus in the Oleaceae family, with its flowers, fruits and roots used as medicine. Flowers are collected in autumn; fruits in spring; roots in all four seasons, and each is dried separately in the sun.
Related Medicinal Materials: Green-backed osmanthus, Ma osmanthus, Mountain osmanthus, Osmanthus dew, Osmanthus seeds.
Nature, Flavor and Meridian Entry: Flowers: pungent, warm. Fruits: pungent, sweet, warm. Roots: sweet, slightly astringent, neutral.
Functions and Indications：
Flowers: dispel cold and break up stagnation, resolve phlegm and relieve cough. Used for toothache, cough and asthma with profuse phlegm, amenorrhea and abdominal pain.
Fruits: warm the stomach, calm the liver, dispel cold. Used for stomach pain due to deficiency cold.
Roots: dispel wind-dampness, dispel cold. Used for rheumatic pain of muscles and bones, low back pain, and toothache due to kidney deficiency.
Practical Supplementary Formulas：
Formula 1
[Ingredients]: 1 g dried osmanthus flowers, 2 g tea leaves.
[Preparation]: Put the dried osmanthus flowers and tea leaves into a cup, pour boiling water over them and steep for 6 minutes, then it is ready to drink.
[Usage]: Drink 1 cup each in the morning and evening.
[Effects]: Strengthens muscles and nourishes the skin, invigorates blood circulation and moistens the throat.
[Applications]: Suitable for dry skin, hoarse voice, toothache and other conditions.

Formula 2
[Materials]: Several osmanthus flowers
[Seasonings]: 1 small teaspoon refined salt, 1 small teaspoon rock sugar
[Method]:
1. Wash the osmanthus flowers repeatedly with salt water and drain them;
2. Put the osmanthus flowers into a cup, pour in boiling water, add rock sugar, cover with the lid, and let steep for about three minutes; when the lid is lifted, the fragrance wafts out.
[Effects]: Can resolve phlegm and dissipate blood stasis, and treat cough.

Effects of Osmanthus Wine：
The ancients believed that osmanthus was the chief of all medicines, so wine brewed with osmanthus could achieve the effect of "drinking it brings a lifespan of a thousand years." For example, in the Han Dynasty, osmanthus wine was a fine offering used by people to worship gods and ancestors. After the sacrifice was completed, the younger generation offered osmanthus wine to their elders, and when the elders drank it, it symbolized prolonged life and increased longevity.
The wine is sweet, fragrant and mellow, with the effects of stimulating the appetite, refreshing the mind, strengthening the spleen and tonifying deficiency. Osmanthus wine is especially suitable for women to drink and has been praised as the "wine of women's happiness." Traditional Chinese medicine includes theoretical and practical flower therapy, and osmanthus wine is a typical example. [16] Effects of Osmanthus Tea: Osmanthus tea can nourish the face and beautify, soothe the throat, improve symptoms of profuse phlegm and cough, treat duodenal ulcers, urticaria, stomach cold and stomach pain, bad breath, and blurred vision.

Culinary Value: Glutinous Rice Osmanthus Lotus Root: Honey-glazed Glutinous Rice Osmanthus Lotus Root Ingredients: 800 g lotus root, 200 g glutinous rice, 20 g lotus leaf, 100 g white granulated sugar, 40 g sweet osmanthus sauce
1. Rinse the glutinous rice clean and soak it in warm water for about 1 hour.
2. Wash the lotus root clean and cut it apart by the nodes.
3. Cut off one end of the lotus root to expose the holes, fill them with the soaked glutinous rice, then cover with the cut lotus root end and secure firmly with bamboo skewers.
4. Pour clean water into a pot, add the lotus root (with the rice-filled opening facing up), and bring to a boil over high heat.
5. Cover with clean lotus leaves, put on the lid, turn to low heat and simmer for about two hours, then remove from the heat.
6. Take out the lotus root and let it cool, peel it, cut it into slices 0.8 cm thick, and arrange them overlapping on a plate.
7. Place a pot over high heat, add clean water and bring to a boil, add white sugar and cook until dissolved, skim off the foam, and turn to low heat.
8. When the sugar syrup becomes thick and sticky, add osmanthus syrup and stir evenly, then remove from the heat and let cool.
9. Pour the sugar syrup over the glutinous rice lotus root and it is ready.

Osmanthus Yellow Forest Pastry：
Ingredients: 300 g wheat flour, 100 g osmanthus flowers, 150 g egg white, 150 g black sesame seeds, 20 g cornstarch, 150 g lard (rendered), 100 g white granulated sugar
1. After sifting the flour, use 200 g flour and add 90 g lard, and knead into a flaky pastry dough.
2. Add 60 g lard to 300 g flour, and knead with an appropriate amount of clean water into a water-oil dough.
3. Divide the flaky dough and the water-oil dough separately into strips and then into small pieces, and roll them with a rolling pin into ox-tongue shapes.
4. Roll them up from the top and then fold into three, roll into wrappers, wrap in osmanthus filling, and shape into cakes.
5. Place them on a baking tray, brush the surface with egg liquid, and bake in the oven until cooked.

Key Points for Making Osmanthus Yellow Forest Pastry:
1. When baking this pastry, temperature control must be well managed, otherwise problems such as cracking and poor surface smoothness of the pastry may easily appear.
2. Method for making osmanthus filling: Put sesame seeds, white sugar and lard in a container, mix and stir evenly, add an appropriate amount of dry starch while stirring, and finally add osmanthus flowers and mix evenly to make the osmanthus filling.

Method for Making Osmanthus Cake:
Raw Material Formula: 16 kg first-grade Sichuan white sugar, 4 kg refined sugar, 4 kg glutinous rice flour, 4 kg cooked oil, 2.5 kg honey osmanthus, 20 kg cooked flour. Production Method
1. Making cooked flour: Put the flour into a steamer and steam until cooked (20 minutes), take it out and let it cool, then grind it fine with a grinder. This is cooked flour.
2. Making cake flour: Rinse glutinous rice with warm water at 50-60°C for 4-5 minutes, take it out and spread it in a winnowing basket to drain off the water. The next day, stir-fry it with river sand (river sand treated with vegetable oil) until puffed (it must not be stir-fried until yellow), then grind it into powder with an electric mill; this is cake flour (also called male powder). Then spread the coffee osmanthus cake on a winnowing basket and expose it to the dew for 2-3 days; it is ready when the powder can be squeezed into a ball by hand without falling apart.
3. Making refined sugar: For every 50 kg of white sugar, add 2-2.5 kg maltose and 7.5 kg water, bring to a boil, then add 1 kg melted oil and boil to about 120°C. When a drop of the sugar liquid put into water can form a block, scoop it out and put it into an ice pot, stirring until it grains, and it becomes refined sugar.
4. Making the filling: According to the formula, mix the white sugar, cooked flour, cooked oil cake flour and honey osmanthus evenly, sift to remove impurities, and the filling is ready.
5. Panning and shaping: Use a wooden frame. First put 1/5 of the mixed base and surface material into the frame and spread it into a thin layer as the base, place the filling in the middle, then cover with 4/5 of the base and surface material as the cake surface layer, roll flat, press tight, cut into rectangular strips with a thin knife, and then package.
Food Characteristics: Rectangular strips, complete in shape, uniform in thickness.
Color: Yellow and white clearly distinct, no spots, no impurities.
Texture: Moist, soft and fluffy, fine and melting in the mouth, not coarse, no sugar grains.
Taste: Sweet and delicious, with a rich, fresh fragrance of osmanthus.

Roasted Osmanthus Sausage:
Ingredients: 300 g fatty pork, 400 g lean pork, 100 g pig small intestine, 5 g soy sauce, 5 g white granulated sugar, 5 g salt, 4 g five-spice powder, 3 g baijiu
1. Wash the fatty pork and lean pork clean, wipe them dry with a cloth, cut into granules, sprinkle in a small amount of salt and mix evenly, and marinate for about 10 minutes.
2. Wash the pig intestine with warm water and soak until soft.
3. Put light soy sauce, granulated sugar and five-spice powder (it can be omitted if you do not like five-spice powder) into the thoroughly marinated chopped pork and mix evenly. Mix an appropriate amount of pink coloring with one teaspoon of water, and after marinating with the seasonings for about 10 minutes, add and mix in.
4. After the thoroughly marinated chopped pork has been mixed with the pink coloring, proceed with the work of stuffing it into the casing. Take out the soaked intestine, pour off the water in which it was soaked, drain the intestine and put it back into a container. Tie one end of the intestine tightly with fine string, and fit the other end onto a sausage-making funnel, also tying it tightly with fine string. Prepare a sewing needle about 7 cm long. When the intestine swells, use the sewing needle to prick holes around the lowest position where air is trapped, so that the air can escape. As the pork is pressed in, it will not burst. When the work of stuffing the pork into the intestine is completed, remove the funnel and tie the opening tightly with fine string.
5. Use a roasting clamp made of wire mesh to clamp the prepared meat sausage in a wrapping manner and place it about 24 cm above glowing red charcoal to roast, turning and moving it until a fragrant aroma is released, and it is ready.
6. If the prepared meat sausage is too long, it can be cut into sections and roasted 2 or 3 times. The cut openings should be tied tightly with fine string immediately to prevent the meat granules from coming out. If it is not to be roasted in long strips, it can be changed to the form of sausages each about 17 cm long.

Carving Material
The wood of the osmanthus tree is dense, beautifully grained, not easily split, and has a smooth planed surface, making it a good carving material.

Landscape Uses of Osmanthus: Landscape Uses
Osmanthus has a wide range of landscape uses. With the continuous progress of science today, nursery stock originally produced in the south has been introduced to the north, and is widely distributed in Jiangsu, Henan, Shandong, Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanxi and other places. Osmanthus has good greening effects and reflects results quickly; in the year it is planted, it can already play a relatively good role. However, when planted in the north, its cold tolerance is generally ordinary, and special protection is needed in winter so that it can survive the winter safely.
Osmanthus is evergreen all year round, with luxuriant branches and leaves, blooms in autumn, and is rich in fragrance, so it can be called "dominating the three autumns and overpowering all flowers." It is widely used in gardens, often as a landscape tree, with solitary planting, opposite planting, and also planting in clumps or groves. In China's classical gardens, osmanthus is often paired with buildings, mountains and rocks, with shrub-type plants planted near pavilions, terraces, towers and chambers. Old-style courtyards often used opposite planting, anciently called "two osmanthus facing the courtyard" or "two osmanthus leaving fragrance." Planting osmanthus trees on the four sides of a residence or in front of a window can achieve the effect of "golden wind sending fragrance." On school campuses, taking the meaning of "plucking osmanthus in the moon palace," osmanthus is also planted in large quantities. Osmanthus has a certain resistance to harmful gases such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen fluoride, and is also a good flowering tree for greening in industrial and mining areas.
Osmanthus is strongly fragrant and contains various aromatic substances, and can be used for food or for extracting spices. China has already formed concentrated osmanthus-growing regions such as Xianning in Hubei, Taoyuan in Hunan, Lu'an in Anhui, Guilin in Guangxi, Zunyi in Guizhou, and Wuhan in Hubei.

Appreciating Osmanthus in Jiangcheng
Osmanthus in some scenic spots in Wuhan: 3,458 plants at Hankou Jiangtan, 153 plants at Baibuting Recreation Garden, 24 plants on Huangpu Road, 63 plants in Hanjiang Green Space. Greening in Jiangcheng has upgraded from the past stage of adding greenery and flowers to the stage of adding fragrance, increasing the number of aromatic plants in newly built and renovated public green spaces and enhancing the city's taste. A few years ago, the Baibuting residential community planted 473 osmanthus trees in the central square of the community, which were very popular among residents. In recent years, more have been replanted continuously, and now there are already over a thousand. Around the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, osmanthus fragrance drifts far and wide, just like the famous osmanthus garden at Wuhan University, known as an ivory tower. Wuhan has also specially launched a Wuhan flower-viewing map to make it convenient for tourists to appreciate osmanthus, cherry blossoms, plum blossoms and various other flowers and trees.
Xinzhou District in Wuhan currently has an osmanthus base of 13,000 mu, mainly distributed in Cangbu, with 34 bases, 11 of which are over 500 mu. The largest osmanthus garden has an area of nearly 4,000 mu, which is also the largest osmanthus garden in the country. There is also the largest DanGUI garden in Central China, with an area of 1,000 mu. First, it has the most osmanthus varieties: 157 varieties, the most in the country. Second, it has many rare osmanthus varieties, among which the early red danGUI covers 1,000 mu and is the largest danGUI garden in Central China. Third, it has the largest osmanthus breeding base area, with 4 million osmanthus seedlings already being bred, ranking first in Central China.
According to incomplete statistics, in the public green spaces of Wuhan's central urban area managed by the landscaping department alone, 33,200 osmanthus trees have been planted, of which 12,300 are distributed in 63 city parks. This means that osmanthus trees outside the parks account for more than half. On Moshang Mountain at East Lake alone, there are more than a hundred mu of osmanthus groves and more than 10,000 trees. Wuhan has more than 120 species of greening trees totaling 754,000 trees, and osmanthus trees account for less than 5%. But the head of Wuhan's landscaping department said that the built-up area of Wuhan's three towns is several times larger than the urban area of Xianning, with an average of more than 70 osmanthus trees per square kilometer. The number of osmanthus trees has already surpassed that of the long-established "Hometown of Osmanthus," and it has transformed into a "Capital of Osmanthus." Careful residents have also found that the osmanthus trees on the streets of the three towns include not only many varieties such as danGUI, jinGUI and yinGUI, but are also divided by tree shape into single-trunk osmanthus, clumping osmanthus and others. Different osmanthus varieties have different flowering periods, making the golden autumn osmanthus fragrance in Jiangcheng last for more than a month.

Osmanthus Park
Suzhou Osmanthus Park. Suzhou Osmanthus Park was completed in October 1998, covering an area of 16.5 hectares. It is located in the southeast corner of the ancient city of Suzhou, adjacent to the thriving industrial park. To the east it embraces the ancient canal, and to the south it stretches for several li, surrounded by the lush city walls of Gusu and the green waters of the Grand Canal. It is one of the key landscapes in the construction of Suzhou's ancient city-ring scenic belt. Along the southern part of the canal, there is the ancient city's "Snake Gate" and the 218-meter-long Gusu land-and-water city tower. A two-kilometer winding path threads along the canal through dense willow-shaded green islands and woods. The lawns are broad and naturally comfortable, fully displaying the characteristics of the water towns of Jiangnan cities, and it is the best place for citizens to relax, stroll and enjoy the scenery.
Osmanthus Park is named after Suzhou's city flower, "osmanthus." In the park, the flowering shrubs are mainly evergreen plants, with more than 260 varieties, including many rare and precious tree species. It is especially characterized by osmanthus species. The richness of osmanthus varieties and the large quantity in the park rank first in China. It is the specialized garden with the largest collection and planting quantity of osmanthus varieties in China. In order to build a specialized garden of osmanthus varieties and support the work of "international registration authority for osmanthus cultivars," the park organized teams to go south to Shanghai, Hangzhou, eastern Zhejiang and western Zhejiang, and as far as more than a dozen counties in southeastern Sichuan, crossing mountains and wading through waters, to search for some well-known varieties that had long been heard of but never seen, such as Jiulonggui, Yichuanhong and Xuegui. Apart from a certain amount preserved in Osmanthus Park, these varieties are rarely seen elsewhere. According to records by osmanthus classification experts Xiang Qibai and Liu Yulian, there are 62 osmanthus varieties in China, of which Osmanthus Park has collected 50, belonging to the two major categories of four-season osmanthus and autumn osmanthus, and the four cultivar groups of Sijigui, Yingui, Jingui and Dangui.

Home Placement
1. Osmanthus can fill your home with poetry [23]. "Accompanying the beautiful one, fragrance fills the world, reputation fills the world, lofty and beautiful, auspicious" is the flower language of osmanthus. Liu Yuxi wrote, "Do not envy the peaches and plums of the three spring months; osmanthus bears fruit and flourishes toward autumn." Su Shi wrote, "River clouds vast and dim, osmanthus wet; plum rain rustling, lychees thus." There is also Li Qingzhao's "Zhegutian: Osmanthus": "Why need pale green or deep red? It is naturally the first-rate among flowers." The Qing dynasty poet Zhang Yun'ao's quatrain "Tasting Osmanthus": "In August West Lake is enough for a clear excursion; where does fragrance reach the nose in seclusion? Beside Manjuelong golden grains are everywhere; the heavenly wind blows them down over ten thousand mountains in autumn." Although there are many verses praising osmanthus, there are also quite a few that touch the scene and wound the heart, such as Wang Jian of the Tang Dynasty in "Watching the Moon on the Night of the Fifteenth": "In the courtyard the ground is white, crows perch in the trees; cold dew silently wets the osmanthus. Tonight the bright moon is gazed at by everyone; who knows where autumn longing falls?" It can be seen that osmanthus is a plant full of emotion.
2. Osmanthus can green your home and make you feel nothing to criticize. We know that osmanthus can release a light but not vulgar fresh fragrance; that fragrance is strong yet does not irritate everyone's sense of smell. Many people choose it when visiting patients because it can purify the air in a hospital room. The same applies at home. If osmanthus is kept at home for a long time, it can continuously absorb odors in the home and, through photosynthesis, release clean oxygen and waves of subtle fragrance.

Cultural Background of Osmanthus: Cultivation History
China has a long history of osmanthus cultivation. The earliest mention of osmanthus in literature is in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas: Classic of the Southern Mountains" from the old Warring States period (475-221 BCE), which says, "The Mountain of Zhaoyao has many osmanthus." Qu Yuan (340-278 BCE) in "Chu Ci: Nine Songs" also wrote: "I raise the Northern Dipper to pour the osmanthus wine; with magnolia chariots and osmanthus banners." From the Han Dynasty to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, osmanthus had already become a precious ornamental plant and a first-class tribute. In the early Han Dynasty it was introduced and planted in imperial palaces and gardens and succeeded. Since the Tang and Song dynasties, osmanthus cultivation began to flourish. Tang dynasty literati planted osmanthus very commonly, and chanting about osmanthus became a trend. In Song Zhiwen's poem "Lingyin Temple" there is the famous line, "Osmanthus seeds fall in the moon; heavenly fragrance drifts beyond the clouds," so later generations also called osmanthus "heavenly fragrance." After the Tang and Song dynasties, osmanthus was widely used in courtyard cultivation for ornament. In Ni Zan's poem "Osmanthus" from the Yuan Dynasty there is the line, "Osmanthus keeps the evening color; curtain shadows lighten the autumn light," showing the situation of planting osmanthus in front of a window. Folk cultivation of osmanthus began in the Song Dynasty and flourished in the early Ming Dynasty. China's five major osmanthus-producing regions in history were all formed during this period.
China's osmanthus was introduced to Britain via Guangzhou and India in 1771, and thereafter developed rapidly in Britain. Today it is cultivated in many countries in Europe and America as well as in various Southeast Asian countries, and grows best in the countries along the Mediterranean coast.

Many Alternate Names
Osmanthus has many alternate names: because its leaves resemble a jade tablet, it is called "gui"; because its grain resembles rhinoceros horn, it is also called muxi; because it is elegant and noble, with fragrance drifting all around, it is called "immortal friend"; osmanthus is also called "immortal tree" and "moon elder among flowers." Osmanthus usually grows on rocky ridges, so it is also called "rock osmanthus"; when osmanthus blooms, its rich fragrance travels far, and its scent has the characteristic of being both clear and rich; the clear can cleanse, the rich can reach far, hence the fine name "nine-li fragrance"; its yellow flowers are as fine as millet, so it also has the name "golden millet"; osmanthus is "immortal guest"; it blooms in autumn, and in old belief the god of autumn ruled the west, so it is also called "western fragrance" or "autumn fragrance"; the osmanthus tree is a symbol of loftiness, chastity, honor, friendship and auspiciousness, and anyone who succeeds in official career and rises rapidly is said to "pluck osmanthus."

Legends of Osmanthus
(1) A plague broke out in Xianning, and nearly one third of the people died. People tried various folk remedies but none worked. At the foot of Guabang Mountain there was a brave, honest and filial young man named Wu Gang. His mother was also bedridden, and the young man went up the mountain every day to gather medicine to save his mother. One day, Guanyin was returning from an eastern journey and was hurrying back to the Western Heaven to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Passing by that day, she saw the young man gathering medicine on the cliffs and was deeply moved. At night she appeared to him in a dream, saying that in the moon palace there was a tree called muxi, also called osmanthus, bearing a kind of small golden flower; steeping it in water and drinking it could cure this plague; on Guabang Mountain, by the fifteenth day of the eighth month, there would be a heavenly ladder by which he could go to the moon palace to pick it. That night happened to be the twelfth day of the eighth month, and there were still three days until the Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth. But to reach the top of Guabang Mountain he had to cross seven deep ravines and climb seven sheer cliffs and overhanging rocks. It would take at least seven days and seven nights, but time waited for no one; if he missed the osmanthus's once-a-year flowering period, he would have to wait another year. To make a long story short, this Wu Gang, after untold hardships, finally reached the top of Guabang Mountain on the night of the fifteenth day of the eighth month and caught the heavenly ladder leading to the moon palace. August was exactly the season when osmanthus fragrance drifted, with heavenly fragrance floating beyond the clouds. Following the fragrance, Wu Gang came to the osmanthus tree, but he could not carry away much if he picked a lot, so he thought of a method: he shook the osmanthus tree, making the osmanthus flowers fall one after another into the river below Guabang Mountain. At once the river surface was filled with a fresh fragrance, and the river water was dyed golden yellow. People who drank this river water all recovered from the plague. So people named this river Jinshui. Later, they added three dots of water beside the character "jin" and named it "Gan River." That night was exactly the grand gathering of the immortals of the heavenly palace on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, and at the gathering they would also admire the moon and eat mooncakes. At this time the fragrance of osmanthus rushed up to the sky and startled the immortals, so they sent an official to investigate. When the official reached the moon palace, he saw that all the osmanthus flowers on the moon palace's divine tree, the treasure stabilizing the palace, had disappeared and had all fallen into the human world's "Gan River," so he reported it to the Jade Emperor. When the Jade Emperor heard this, he was furious. You should know that the Jade Emperor loved eating mooncakes made with moon osmanthus the most. With all the osmanthus flowers on the tree gone, he could not eat mooncakes, so he sent heavenly soldiers and generals to arrest Wu Gang. After Wu Gang was captured, he told the Jade Emperor everything that had happened that night in full detail. After hearing it, the Jade Emperor could not say much more and inwardly admired this young man; but Wu Gang had after all violated heavenly rules, and if he were not punished, the Jade Emperor's prestige could not be established. He asked Wu Gang what request he had, and Wu Gang said he wanted to bring the osmanthus tree to the human world to relieve suffering and aid the distressed. So the Jade Emperor thought of an idea that could both punish Wu Gang and agree to Wu Gang's request. He said, as long as you cut down the osmanthus tree, you may take it. So Wu Gang found a great axe and began chopping, wanting to cut down the great tree quickly. The Jade Emperor cast a spell, so Wu Gang chopped year after year, month after month, for several thousand years. Seeing that he could not cut down the tree, and longing for home and his mother, Wu Gang dropped a branch of osmanthus onto Guabang Mountain every Mid-Autumn night to express his homesickness. Year after year, Guabang Mountain became covered with osmanthus, and the villagers used this osmanthus to make tea. Xianning never had disasters again. Chang'e, from the same village as Wu Gang, had grown up with him as childhood sweethearts. Ever since Wu Gang went to the moon palace, she had always cared for Wu Gang's elderly mother until the old woman passed away. Wu Gang and Chang'e were separated between heaven and the human world, and their longing for each other grew day by day. Wu Gang could not return because he could not cut down the osmanthus tree, and Chang'e, separated by heaven and earth, could not go to meet her Wu Lang. Finally one day, the Queen Mother of the West took her seven daughters to bathe at Mingshui Spring below Guabang Mountain. Chang'e saw this, secretly took the seventh fairy's elixir for returning to heaven, took it home and ate it, and with her jade rabbit went up to heaven to meet Wu Gang. The seventh fairy, having no elixir, could not return to the heavenly court and could only wait for her sisters to come bathing again three days later and bring it to her before she could go up to heaven. You should know that one day in heaven is one year in the human world. During these three years, the seventh fairy met Dong Yong.
(2) Legend says that in ancient times, below Liangying Mountain, there lived a widow who sold mountain wine. She was forthright and kind-hearted, and the wine she brewed was mellow and sweet. People respected her and called her Immortal Wine Lady. One winter, the weather was freezing cold. Early in the morning, as soon as Immortal Wine Lady opened the gate, she suddenly saw a man lying outside the door, thin as a stick and barely clothed; he looked like a beggar. Immortal Wine Lady felt that he still had breath, so she carried him back home, first giving him hot soup, then feeding him half a cup of wine. The man slowly revived and said excitedly, "Thank you, lady, for saving my life. I am a paralyzed man. If I go out, I will either freeze to death or starve to death. Please be kind and let me stay a few more days." Immortal Wine Lady was troubled. As the saying goes, "Before a widow's door there is much gossip." If a man like this stayed in her home, others would talk. But then she thought again, she could not just watch him freeze to death or starve to death. Finally she nodded and agreed to let him stay temporarily. As expected, gossip about Immortal Wine Lady soon spread, everyone became distant from her, and fewer and fewer people came to the wine shop to buy wine day by day. But Immortal Wine Lady endured the pain and cared for the man with all her heart. Later, when people no longer came to buy wine and she truly could not keep going, the man left without saying goodbye, no one knew where. Immortal Wine Lady was worried and looked everywhere for him. On a hillside she met a white-haired old man carrying a load of dry firewood and walking with difficulty. Just as Immortal Wine Lady was about to help, the old man suddenly fell, and the dry firewood scattered all over the ground. The old man closed his eyes, his lips trembled, and he weakly called, "Water, water..." Where could water come from on a barren hillside? Immortal Wine Lady bit through her middle finger, and at once blood flowed out. She put her finger to the old man's mouth, and the old man suddenly disappeared. In a clear breeze, a yellow cloth bag flew down from the sky. The bag was filled with many small yellow paper packets, and there was also a yellow note on which was written: The moon palace grants osmanthus seeds, rewarding kind households. With high fortune, the osmanthus tree is green; with high longevity, the tree is full of flowers. Pick the flowers to brew osmanthus wine, first offering it to father and mother. Wu Gang helps the good, and sends disasters to the treacherous and slippery. Only then did Immortal Wine Lady understand that the paralyzed man and the old wood carrier were both transformations of Wu Gang. When this matter spread, people from near and far came to ask for osmanthus seeds. Good people planted the osmanthus seeds, and they quickly grew into osmanthus trees and bloomed with osmanthus flowers, filling the courtyard with sweetness and infinite glory. For those with bad intentions, the osmanthus seeds they planted simply would not take root or sprout, making them feel ashamed, and from then on they reformed and turned toward goodness. Everyone was very grateful to Immortal Wine Lady; it was her good deeds that moved the great immortal Wu Gang, who managed the osmanthus trees in the moon palace, to pass osmanthus seed wine to the human world. From then on, the human world had osmanthus and osmanthus wine.

Cultural Heritage
The eighth month of the lunar calendar was anciently called the osmanthus month. This month is the best time to appreciate osmanthus and also the best month to appreciate the moon. China's osmanthus and the bright moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival have since ancient times been connected with the cultural life of the Chinese people. Many poets wrote poems and lyrics to depict and praise it, and even deified it. Moon palace myths such as Chang'e flying to the moon and Wu Gang cutting the osmanthus, the palace in the moon, and the fairy realm in the palace have become widely praised tales through the ages, and it is precisely osmanthus that links them together. The osmanthus tree even became an "immortal tree." Han Zicang of the Song Dynasty wrote in a poem: "In the moon there was a guest who once shared its seeds; in the world no flower dares compete with its fragrance." Li Qingzhao called the osmanthus tree "naturally the first-rate among flowers." In modern times, through mass selection, the osmanthus tree leaped onto the seat of the top 10 famous flowers.
Osmanthus has many names: because its leaf veins are shaped like a jade tablet, it is called "gui"; because its wood is dense and its grain resembles rhinoceros horn, it is called "muxi"; because it naturally grows among clumping rocky ridges, it is called "rock osmanthus"; because when it blooms its fragrance is pungent and travels several li, it is also called "seven-li fragrance" and "nine-li fragrance."
Osmanthus belongs to the genus Osmanthus in the Oleaceae family. It originated in southwestern, southern and eastern China. Wild resources now exist in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Zhejiang and other places, with the most concentrated cultivation in cities such as Chengdu, Wuhan, Nanjing, Guilin, Hangzhou and Suzhou. It is commonly planted from the Huai River basin to the areas south of the lower reaches of the Yellow River. In areas north of the Huai River, osmanthus has difficulty overwintering in the open ground, so pot cultivation is generally used, and in winter it is moved into a greenhouse or cold cellar to overwinter so as to ensure normal growth.
Osmanthus is cultivated in Japan and India. Since 1771, when China's osmanthus was introduced to Britain via Guangzhou and India, it then expanded rapidly. Today it is commonly cultivated in many countries in Europe and America as well as in various Southeast Asian countries, becoming an important fragrant flowering plant.
Some osmanthus plants bear fruit, and some do not. Generally the drupe matures in April-May of the following year. When sown, it generally takes 5-6 years to bloom. For asexual propagation by branch cuttings, grafting or layering, it can bloom in the same year.
A Song Dynasty record says: "When the moon is about to be full, the flowers are just right; after the flowers are about to fade, the moon still wanes. One should know that things in heaven and the human world alike receive the clear autumn at the same time." This points out the basic pattern of its flowering: that is, every year when the moon is full on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, osmanthus blooms in full, and half a month later the flowers have withered and the moon has also waned.
Osmanthus prefers warmth and has strong stress resistance. It tolerates both high temperatures and relatively cold conditions, and can overwinter in the open ground in areas south of the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River in China.
Osmanthus relatively prefers sunlight and can also tolerate shade. Under full sunlight its branches and leaves grow luxuriantly and it blooms densely; in shady places its branches and leaves grow sparsely and flowers are few. If potted indoors in the north, special attention must be paid to ensuring sufficient light to benefit growth and flower bud formation.
The ancients recorded a great deal about the weather conditions for osmanthus blooming. Wang Jian of the Tang Dynasty wrote in "Watching the Moon on the Night of the Fifteenth": "Cold dew silently wets the osmanthus"; Liu Zongyuan wrote, "Dew is dense on the osmanthus of the front mountain"; Bai Juyi wrote, "Heaven is about to steam autumn air into cold fragrance; the moon borrows golden waves to pick the yellow seeds"; Lu You of the Song Dynasty wrote: "Heavy dew dampens the fragrance on the quiet path at dawn; the slanting sun warms the stamens, beautiful by the small window." In the poems, "cold dew" and "dense dew" show that the blooming weather should be cool in the morning and evening; "warming and steaming" show that the weather would also once again reach relatively high temperatures. This kind of weather, cool in the morning and evening and hot during the day, is beneficial both to the accumulation of nutrients in the osmanthus tree and to the formation of rain and dew, and the osmanthus tree then blooms faster. People in Suzhou call this "muxi steaming." Around the Mid-Autumn Festival the weather suddenly becomes hot, even like summer; once the osmanthus is steamed and warmed, it blooms profusely and abundantly. Osmanthus blooming requires a certain humidity and also a certain temperature difference.
Because osmanthus can be enjoyed for its flowers and also smelled for its fragrance, modern urban landscaping often chooses it. Osmanthus also has rich cultural significance. "Among the beautiful things, the osmanthus of Zhaoyao," osmanthus has always been a symbol of beautiful and elegant things in the world. "In August osmanthus blooms everywhere; when osmanthus blooms, happiness comes." Through the ages, people have also regarded osmanthus as an auspicious sign. Passing the imperial examination and succeeding in official career are also called "plucking osmanthus," and those who obtain special honors are praised as having a "laurel crown."

City Flower and City Tree: Xianning, Xianning City
Osmanthus cultivation has a long history. According to historical records, more than 2,300 years ago during the Warring States period, the poet Qu Yuan passed through Xianning and wrote the beautiful lines "Libation of osmanthus wine and pepper broth" and "Swiftly I ride in the osmanthus boat." Five hundred years ago, there was already a folk tradition of brewing fine osmanthus wine.
A small number of thousand-year-old ancient osmanthus trees still exist in Xian'an. Xianning osmanthus ranks first in the country in six aspects: planting area, number of varieties, number of ancient osmanthus trees, osmanthus output, osmanthus quality and osmanthus nursery stock. The city's five main resource indicators, including the number of osmanthus varieties, the number of ancient trees, base area, fresh osmanthus output and osmanthus quality, have always maintained a leading position nationwide. Osmanthus is distributed in 45 townships across 6 counties, cities and districts in the city, with the four major cultivar groups of Jingui, Yingui, Dangui and Sijigui, and nearly thirty osmanthus varieties. There are 1.5 million osmanthus trees with a ground diameter of more than 5 cm, equivalent to an area of more than 50,000 mu. In particular, the city has 2,000 ancient osmanthus trees over a hundred years old, accounting for 91% of the country's 2,200.
In 1963 and 1983, the state named Xianning the "Hometown of Osmanthus" twice; in 2000, the state again named Xian'an District of Xianning City the only "Hometown of Chinese Osmanthus." With indisputable resource advantages, Xianning City has successively won many national honors. According to a special survey on osmanthus, compared with 1999, osmanthus area, output, output value, tax revenue and net income provided to farmers all increased considerably, and the osmanthus industry developed substantially. Xian'an District was listed by the State Forestry Administration as a national-level nursery stock and flower base. Xianning osmanthus products have been exported to more than 10 countries and regions including Japan, the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia. "Rose fragrance, jasmine fragrance, cannot compare with Jiangnan osmanthus fragrance." The rich osmanthus customs have nurtured a osmanthus hometown culture with southern Hubei characteristics. A "Legend of Heavenly Fragrance Osmanthus" tells the legendary story of osmanthus, and a song "Jiangnan Osmanthus Fragrance" has spread Xianning's osmanthus fragrance across the north and south of the Yangtze River.

Lu'an
Lu'an Zhou, the background setting of the TV drama "August Osmanthus Blooms Everywhere," is present-day Lu'an, and the instructors of the New Fourth Army's southern Henan cadre training class entered Lu'an Zhou and served as political commissars in the guerrilla detachment at Huoying Mountain. Huoying Mountain here is Huoshan County in Lu'an. Lu'an is also called Lu'an, and because the pronunciation is the same, it is often written as Lu'an. It is one of China's largest osmanthus-producing areas and one of the concentrated producing areas. "August Osmanthus Blooms Everywhere" was adapted from the tune of the Dabie Mountain folk song "Eight Sections of Brocade" and has been sung to this day without fading. There are multiple versions of its birthplace. Since the 1980s, the birthplace of "August Osmanthus Blooms Everywhere" has sparked disputes among various places, including Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui and Henan claims.

Xinyang
"August Osmanthus Blooms Everywhere" was spread nationwide by the "Red Sun Troupe" founded by Wang Jichu and became a classic work of Chinese revolutionary historical folk songs. Shangcheng and Xinxian regard "Osmanthus" as their pride, and the two counties made irreplaceable contributions to the flourishing of "Osmanthus." Xinyang City has adopted osmanthus as its city flower. Xinyang City is located in southern Henan Province, bordering Anhui to the east and Hubei to the south. Xinyang has beautiful mountains and rivers and a pleasant climate.

Suzhou
Suzhou's city flower is osmanthus. Osmanthus belongs to the Oleaceae family and is an evergreen tree. China already has more than two thousand years of cultivation history, and it has been rated as one of the top ten traditional famous flowers. A myth was once widely circulated among the people: it was said that in the moon there was an osmanthus tree 500 zhang tall. Wu Gang, a man from Hexi in the Han Dynasty, because he studied immortality but did not follow the rules of the Dao, was punished by being sent to the moon to cut down the osmanthus. But the tree closed up again as soon as it was cut, and could never be cut down. He toiled all year round and was only allowed to rest when the osmanthus bloomed at Mid-Autumn. Mao Zedong's lines, "Ask Wu Gang what he has; Wu Gang brings out osmanthus wine," are a vivid embellishment of this story. Through the ages, people have regarded osmanthus as an auspicious sign. Passing the imperial examination and succeeding in official career are called "plucking osmanthus." Those who obtain special honors are praised as having a "laurel crown." Among some ethnic minorities in Guangxi, young men and women also like to give osmanthus to the one they love to express admiration, hence the proverb, "One branch of osmanthus, one heart; in the osmanthus grove, a lifelong bond."

Hangzhou
Hangzhou uses osmanthus as its city flower not because the osmanthus flower shape is so beautiful or so large, but because of a deeper meaning: osmanthus is a flower with inner substance. First, its fragrance is rich, elegant and pleasant. Whenever osmanthus blooms in the golden autumn season, the whole city of Hangzhou is filled with osmanthus fragrance, making people feel relaxed and joyful. Second, literati of past dynasties wrote countless recitations of Hangzhou osmanthus, showing that osmanthus cultivation in Hangzhou also has a long history and has been loved by people for thousands of years. All tourists who come to Hangzhou during osmanthus season are captivated by it, and osmanthus fragrance has already become a symbol of Hangzhou.

Guilin
Guilin's city flower is also osmanthus. In Guilin, this beautiful, world-famous tourist city, the "best under heaven" Guilin landscape attracts many people from China and abroad. In Guilin there is the saying, "Guilin, Guilin, osmanthus trees form a forest."

Related Poetry
"Zhegutian" by Li Qingzhao
Dim and light yellow, its nature is gentle; its feeling aloof, its trace far, only its fragrance remains.
Why need it be pale green or deep red? It is naturally the finest among flowers.
The plum must be jealous, the chrysanthemum should be ashamed; where it blooms by the painted railing, it crowns the Mid-Autumn.
The poet is truly heartless and unfeeling; why was it not gathered in years past?

"Praising Osmanthus" Qing dynasty, Zhang Yun'ao
In August at West Lake there is ample clear wandering; where does fragrance reach the nose in quiet seclusion?
All around Manjuelong the golden grains are everywhere; heavenly wind blows them down, autumn over ten thousand mountains.

"Looking at the Moon on the Night of the Fifteenth" Tang dynasty, Wang Jian
In the courtyard the ground is white, crows perch in the trees; cold dew falls silently, wetting the osmanthus flowers.
Tonight the bright moon is watched by all; who knows in whose home the autumn longing falls?

"Autumn Night's Entangled Feelings" Song dynasty, Zhu Shuzhen
Suppressing the west wind, it dominates all flowers; for whom does it busy itself with such autumn color?
A single branch lightly placed beneath the study window; the person and the flower's heart each have their own fragrance.
When the moon waits to be full, the flower is just right; after the flower will fade, the moon will still wane.
One should know that things in heaven and on earth alike receive clear autumn in one same time.

"Osmanthus" Song dynasty, Lü Shengzhi
It alone occupies the three autumn months, pressing down all flowers; why praise the green of oranges and the yellow of tangerines?
Since it was divided and descended from the moon at Mid-Autumn, its fruit seems to drift down with fragrance from the sky's edge.

"Three Poems on the Osmanthus of the East City, with Preface" Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi
The East City of Suzhou was the ancient capital of Wu. Now it is a place for woodcutters and herders.
There is one osmanthus tree growing below the city wall; I pity that it has not found its proper place, so I composed three quatrains to lament it.
You fell originally from the Tianzhu Temple; your roots now coil in the city of Helü.
At that time you must have followed the south wind down, falling into the human world to grow at random.
Though pressed by frost and snow, you do not die; yet thorns and brambles grow fast and would bury you.
I long worry you will fall into a woodcutter's hands, sold as a bundle of firewood in Suzhou.
From afar I know the osmanthus in heaven is lonely; let me ask Chang'e whether she wants more.
Fortunately the moon palace has idle land; why not plant two trees in its center?

Song dynasty, Zhu Xi
Gracefully standing, the osmanthus beneath the cliff; late in the year it alone is fragrant.
Leaves dense with a thousand layers of green; flowers bloom in ten thousand dots of yellow.

"Picking Mulberries" Li Gang
Its secluded fragrance does not bloom for spring light; it waits straight for the autumn wind, waits straight for the autumn wind; its scent is far richer than other flowers.
A step-shake hairpin of gold and kingfisher, the person like jade; blowing and stirring the tinkling gems, blowing and stirring the tinkling gems; just like meeting beneath the jade terrace in the moonlight.
On the branch tips, ten thousand dots adorn golden stamens; ten miles of clear fragrance, ten miles of clear fragrance; drawing forth the recluse's long refined thoughts.
In a jade vase storing water, the flowers are hard to age; on a clean table by a bright window, on a clean table by a bright window; fallen petals shed in rustling yellow.

"Bird Cries in the Ravine" Wang Wei
When people are at leisure, osmanthus flowers fall; the night is quiet, the spring mountain empty.
The moon rises and startles the mountain birds; from time to time they cry within the spring ravine.

"Osmanthus Blooms Again at Changsha Temple" Chen Yuyi
Heaven sent the secluded flower to bloom twice; at dusk, with Sanskrit chanting, I linger here.
It does not let the lay Buddhist lie on the meditation couch; it calls him out to the west chamber to view it together.

"Lingyin Temple" Tang dynasty poet Song Zhiwen
Osmanthus seeds fall within the moon; heavenly fragrance drifts beyond the clouds.

"Chang'e" Ming dynasty, Bian Gong
In the moon palace autumn is cold, osmanthus round and round; year after year the flowers bloom only to be plucked. Together in the human world we speak of heaven, not knowing heaven remembers the human world.

"Remembering Jiangnan" Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi
In the mountain temple amid the moon I seek osmanthus seeds; on the commandery pavilion pillow I watch the tidal head.

"Sent to Zen Master Taoguang" Tang dynasty, Bai Juyi
Thinking from afar of where my master walks the path, heavenly fragrance and osmanthus seeds fall in profusion.

"With Thoughts of My Younger Brother Han" Yu Chou
Hibiscus weeps dew, seen at the slope's head; osmanthus seeds drift fragrance, heard beneath the moon.

The flower meaning of osmanthus

Flower meaning: breathe in your fragrance. Autumn osmanthus is like gold, representing "harvest."
The flower meaning of osmanthus is "breathe in your breath."
Forever accompanying the beauty, the osmanthus tree is indeed fragrant throughout the world, a houseplant renowned throughout the world; it is a symbol of the lofty and beautiful, of "good fortune and wealth."
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