Olives that you eat have been pickled and brined, and will not sprout. Olives can be grown here. Prefer sunny well-drainede location, preferably near the water where it's warmer than near the mountains.

I bought one from Burnt Ridge Nursery. I planted it by a concrete wall on the south side of my house, so I hope it will do OK. I don't expect fruit but it would be nice, I figure I can use the leaves. Arbequina is one variety sold to do well here. The usual CA olive may not grow here.

Thanks folks,

I just read a little about olive leaves hemnancy, and it's pretty interesting stuff! Sounds totally worth having a tree even if it doesn't fruit. I guess we really don't have anywhere to take fruit for oil, and anyway, you'd need a lot of trees for that, which I don't have room for.
But it's great to know the other uses, thank you.

MG

"Olive trees can not be expected to ripen fruit in Seattle, but they're worth planting in warm sunny sites for their ornamental appeal."

Here is a link that might be useful: Article - Trees that merit planting in Seattle by Arthur Lee Jacobson

Olive trees really are neat looking plants, aren't they? I love the connection to people and civilizations in the past. I have a few friends in Seattle and in Portland growing them and they seem to be quite happy after a few years. My one friend in Crown Hill in Seattle has one potted on his south-facing patio and it grows vigorously and produces fruit each summer (they don't fully ripen as mentioned above, but they do form, so they add to the "oliveness" of the olive plant).

I may give one a try as well. They're just really fun. Let us know if you get one and how it does for you. Updates from all of our olive-growers are encouraged. It's fun to hear who is growing what.

Take care,
Grant

Whaddaya know, I found (in an Ortho book on greenhouses) a "kids" project--growing an olive!
It said use black olives (sure to be ripe) and find a pit or two, nick the pits with a file, freeze in ice cubes for 3 weeks, plant in pots in mix of sand and peatmoss.

I'm trying it for kicks, with Kalamata pits. If it doesn't work I'll buy one from Raintree as I'm sold on having one!
Thanks all for the input and if I get an olive sprout in a couple months I'll post the happy news.

MG

An update:

Sadly, I did not get any sprouts from the olive pits. However, I do have a small olive tree on my list for the medicinal and aesthetic value now.

Thanks everyone for the info and encouragement!

Sorry the pits didn't sprout. I've seen several one and five gallon pot sizes of them around Seattle so you shouldn't have to search far to find a nice little tree.

If you're really set on doing them from seed, Thompson and Morgan is selling seeds (link below).

Thanks for the update!
Take care,
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: packet of 25 olive seeds/pits from Thompson and Morgan

It appears many places here have been buying the 'Arbequina' in one gallon pots from One Green World. Plants like olive trees are feasible around Puget Sound for as long as it stays above their minimum temperature. Note that for all practical purposes you cannot find any big, old ones around. There may, of course be one or two in a sheltered, sunny beachfront garden(s) up a quiet backwater somewhere, where the close proximity of salt water keeps the minimum temperature higher than in surrounding areas.