Olea europaea

Olive trees are living works of art, deeply rooted in Mediterranean history and valued for producing a culinary staple. Their ancient, gnarled trunks and silvery foliage bring sculptural beauty and character to any garden.

Olea europaea is the cultural and ecological heart of the Mediterranean basin — domesticated in the eastern Mediterranean 6,000 years ago and central to the region's agriculture, cuisine, religion and landscape ever since. The narrow grey-green evergreen leaves with silvery undersides shimmer in the wind. Small fragrant cream-white flowers appear in late spring, followed by green olives that ripen to black through autumn and winter. The tree is hardy to -10°C in established specimens, extraordinarily long-lived (some specimens over 2,000 years old), and exceptionally tolerant of drought, salt, alkaline rocky soils and strong wind. Active growth occurs from spring through autumn; the tree slows but does not stop in mild winters.

Olive trees are most beautiful as multi-stemmed mature specimens, where the gnarled grey trunks and silvery canopy create a powerful sculptural presence. Plant a single ancient tree as the centrepiece of a Mediterranean garden, in regular grids for orchard plantings, in formal pairs flanking gates and entrances, or as a freestanding lawn specimen where the form can be appreciated. The cool silver-grey foliage works as a background for almost everything, but particularly with the dark verticals of Cupressus sempervirens, the magenta of Bougainvillea, the blue of Plumbago auriculata and Lavandula, and the warm ochres of stone walls and terracotta. Underplant with shallow-rooted Mediterranean companions: Cistus, Phlomis, Salvia rosmarinus, Iris germanica, Stipa tenuissima.