August osmanthus fills the garden with fragrance, and good care during the flowering period is key

August osmanthus fragrance refers to the scene around the eighth month of the lunar calendar each year, when osmanthus blooms in concentrated fashion and fills the whole city with scent. At this time the temperature turns cooler, the temperature difference between day and night increases, and varieties such as golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus and red osmanthus enter full bloom one after another. The fragrance is rich and long-lasting and can drift far on the wind, so there has long been a folk saying of August osmanthus fragrance.

Osmanthus is an evergreen tree or shrub in the Oleaceae family, and the commonly cultivated varieties are divided into several categories such as golden osmanthus, silver osmanthus, red osmanthus and four-season osmanthus. Golden osmanthus has golden-yellow flowers and the strongest fragrance; silver osmanthus has more whitish flowers and a delicate scent; red osmanthus has orange-red flowers and high ornamental value; four-season osmanthus has a scattered flowering period and a relatively light fragrance, making it suitable for courtyard and pot cultivation.

To make osmanthus release its fragrance on schedule in August, daily care needs attention to light and water-fertilizer management. Osmanthus likes sunlight, and if kept in shade for a long time it is prone to leggy branches and leaves and few or even no flowers. During the growing period, keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. Before flowering in early autumn, an appropriate supplement of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer helps flower bud differentiation, so the flowers are more numerous and more fragrant.

Problems such as osmanthus blooming without fragrance or dropping flowers are also common, and are mostly related to insufficient light, inadequate nutrients or the characteristics of the variety itself. Osmanthus is also prone to pests such as scale insects and red spider mites, so attention should be paid to ventilation and light penetration and to timely pruning of diseased branches and fallen leaves. For propagation, cuttings are mostly used for raising seedlings; the method is simple, and with proper care, after a few years you can smell August osmanthus fragrance in your own yard.