I have the Osmathus 'goshiki', LOVE IT as the deer never touch it! Yes, mine grows in full southern sun, year round.

Osmanthus can take a long time to settle in.

I generally don't advocate fertilizing shrubs 'just because', but if you _haven't_ fertilized it for 4-5 years, now (and no later than now) might be a time to give it a *little* balanced and/or 'miracid' type fertilizer.

My Osmanthus Goshiki, purchased 2 years ago or so as a tiny little starter plant for containers, has easily tripled in size. What started out around 6 inches is now 18 inches tall and significantly wider. It has lived in a container most of that time and in mostly shade but is now planted in the ground in an area that only receives some early morning direct sun. It does get plenty of water though and IME plentiful - but not too much - irrigation is what encourages robust growth. It never gets very big, however.

My Heptacodium 'Temple of Bloom' is in its 5th year. Maybe 8 ft tall and about as wide. I don't think it's going to get much larger. BTW, in this bizarre growing year, it is about to bloom--still not even July--as are all my late summer perennials--Agastaches, Monarda 'Claire Grace', Pardancanda, Lobelia cardinalis, etc. By the beginning of August, they'll be nothing at all in bloom.

Oddly enough, I also have a ’Temple of Bloom’ that is about five years old. It originally had three stems, but a Buck took one of them out completely and did significant damage to another. It is about 8’ tall AND at least that wide. A few years ago I visited Dow Gardens in Midland, MI, and they had a very nice single stem specimen that was at least 15’ tall.

Lol it's funny how everyone's heptacodium is 5 years old! Thanks for this info. I guess I can expect mine to get at least 8 feet tall and 8 feet wide, although that Dow Gardens one has me wondering lol. I have to consider some power lines in the spot I was thinking for it. I thought this would be a great spot for it but if it gets 15 feet or taller I will have to rethink.

That darn osmanthus though lol. I just don't know why mine are not growing much. I did give them a bit of fertilizer this spring, and possibly last year as well. After 4 to 5 years I expected a bit more. Goodness, I've been griping the last three years about my disappointment in the growth and size of a couple of Pearl Glam callicarpas I have, but even they have finally put on some growth this year.

Thank you all for your input! Now if someone has any experience with a Jane magnolia, that is the one with the widest range of growth info. It was the hardest to site to begin with (being an impulse buy with no planned spot in mind) and now with the big spread in mature size descriptions, I just don't know where I to put it!

Thanks!

:)

Dee

I have two flowering cherry trees, type does not matter for this discussion. When we planted them, I went online and did considerable research on the ultimate size, (diameter) Based on that research I added the ultimate radius of the each tree, added a little extra and planted the trees. Today the trees have far exceeds the spread that I found in my research, and are now growing into each other.

A tree will spread to its conditions. Soil, moisture, sunlight, nearness to other trees all affect the ultimate diameter of the tree. My one cherry tree was suppose to get to be about 20 feet in diameter. Today it is over 30 feet and still growing. It is about 14 years old.

IIRC, a local gardening friend from years past was complaining about how ginormous her Jane had gotten. I do remember many people saying "the 'Little Girls' aren't little".

I have Betty. When I bought it, about 30 years ago, it was 6" tall. Now it is maybe 20' wide and 25-30' tall.

Re: the osmanthus, this is from a local nursery whose descriptions I trust (emphasis mine): Goshiki Holly-leaf Tea Olive. 'Goshiki' means "five colors" in Japanese and this cultivar lives up to its billing. On each leaf over a base of gold and pale green are many shades of cream, gold and yellows splashes. It has the same growth habit and growth rate as 'Variegatus' and does well in sun or shade. You will fall in love with this plant. It is awesome! When it gets some age on it, it will begin to flower each fall, and once a plant reaches maturity, the leaves will loose their spiny edges and become a simple elliptic shape with a spine at the tip. Because of the degree of variegation, this selection doesn't grow as fast as the species, and because of this, it is much easier to maintain at a desired size. It is quite popular in Japan as a container plant.

"... A tree will spread to its conditions. Soil, moisture, sunlight, nearness to other trees all affect the ultimate diameter of the tree..."

Very true. And I understand that if a tag says a tree or shrub or even small blooming plant grows to a certain size, or a certain range of sizes, that it could of course possibly exceed that size or perhaps not quite make it. But when there is such a huge range (10 feet tall or 25 feet tall, or 6 feet wide or 20 feet wide) it's really a bit difficult for a gardener to decide to grow a certain plant, or where to site it. It's hard to plan when a plant could be triple the size of what the tag says. :)

I think I will just put both of these trees - the heptacodium and the magnolia, in spots where I didn't quite want them lol, but which have more room for them, and where they will still look good and do well. Then I just have to hope they don't both stop growing at about 6 feet and look silly in their respective spots lol! With my luck, in ten years they will both be 6 feet tall and the osmanthus will finally outgrow both of them! :D

Thank you all for your input,

:)

Dee

Dee - I think you made the right decision to give the Heptacodium and magnolia more space. Both have the potential to grow to 20' or more. Temple of Bloom is advertised to be somewhat more compact than the species (Proven Winners lists the mature height at 15-20'), but I'm guessing that over time, if left unpruned, TOB will exceed that. My species Heptacodium is over 25' tall and nearly as wide. In my area, Jane magnolias are generally slower growers than Heptacodium, but can probably still reach 20' given enough time, and IME the older specimens tend to be wider than they are tall. See also: USNA - The "Girl" Magnolias