Yinbi Shuanghui Variegated Fragrant Tea Olive. We had a visit from a Chinese horticulturist who spent a good portion of the day with us. After seeing our plant collection which is dominated by many Osmanthus species and cultivars, he started telling me about a number of variegated leaf forms of Osmanthus fragrans that were available in China. He pulled up a number of photos on the internet (it looked like a Chinese version of Flicker) and showed me several. I was drooling, slobbering and my heart beat went up precipitously. I was asking him if we could ever get any of these and how much they would cost. His reply, "We just trade." Of course I was glad to hear that. This was March, so I encouraged him to wait until fall to ship them, but he insisted that he could send them very soon. When they arrived about a month later, they had almost completely defoliated, but I soaked the roots in a Super Thrive solution for several hours and then planted them and put them under a light mist. I think a little over 50% survived; whereas, I was thinking that we would lose most of them. Even the 4" rooted cuttings had flowers emerging on them. Many times when plants are this heavily variegated, they will be poor bloomers, but not with these cultivars. He actually sent two different variegated forms which are practically impossible to tell apart. Once they began to flush, the new leaves were an attractive pink. From only a few feet distance, it is difficult to tell the two cultivars apart. This one has proven quite cold-hardy. It can be grown in full sun to part shade and is quite stunning. And as per this species, it flowers in every month with an "r" in it. The translation of the cultivar name is as follows: Yin (silver), bi (green). Shuang (double/twice), hui (splendor/brilliance).
Zone 7b-10
