Walton's Plant Library

Other Names:  Oleaster, Silverthorn

Description:

A large, dense evergreen shrub, producing bright, yellow-gold foliage splashed with dark green; subtle, creamy white flower clusters in fall have a wonderful fragrance; a great landscape shrub that can be maintained as a screen or hedge

Ornamental Features

Olive Martini™ Silverberry has attractive dark green-variegated yellow foliage on a plant with a round habit of growth. The glossy pointy leaves are highly ornamental and remain yellow throughout the winter. It features subtle clusters of fragrant creamy white bell-shaped flowers along the branches from mid to late fall.

Landscape Attributes

Olive Martini™ Silverberry is a dense multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This shrub will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Olive Martini™ Silverberry is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Hedges/Screening
• Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Olive Martini™ Silverberry will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and should do just fine under average home landscape conditions. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for clay, alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Olive Martini™ Silverberry makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its height, it is often used as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.