Elaeagnus angustifolia - Russian Olive

Elaeagnus angustifolia, also known as Narrow-leaved Oleaster, is also evocatively called the Bohemian Olive due to its resemblance to the famous Mediterranean tree. While they share a certain similarity in the appearance of their foliage and their dense habit, these two plants are extremely different. Our Narrow-leaved Oleaster has thorny branches, rapid growth, spreads through suckers, and quickly forms a voluminous bush. Its foliage is deciduous, and its cold resistance is absolutely remarkable. Buffeted by the wind, its velvety foliage with a grey-silver underside plays beautifully with light. Its flowering is abundant but discreet, and reveals a honey fragrance that is perceptible from several metres away. Widely used in windbreak or defensive hedges, it is a powerful plant, with an indefinable charm, both untamed and elegant.

The Narrow-leaved Oleaster, also called Silver Tree, Paradise Tree, or Narrow-leaved Elaeagnus depending on the region, is a large deciduous shrub of the Elaeagnaceae family, native to central and western Asia as well as southern Europe. In nature, it grows spontaneously near water, in floodplains, but also in the bed of dried-up watercourses, at altitudes below 2000 m (6561 ft). It shows rapid growth, and forms a ramified shrub, with a wide but flexible habit, reaching over 5 m (16 ft) in height and 4 m (13 ft) in width. The slightly suckering stump extends laterally through sucker production. Its deciduous foliage persists for a long time before falling. It consists of entire, lanceolate, narrow leaves, 3 cm to 5 cm (1.2 in to 2 in) long, with a green almond to grey colour on the upper side, and a lighter silver on the underside. They are carried by branches covered with silver or reddish scales when young. Over the months, the scales fall off, revealing a shiny, reddish-brown bark. As it ages, the bark takes on a more greyish hue and a striated appearance. Branches and twigs are equipped with strong, sharp thorns, 0.8 cm to 3 cm (0.3 in to 1.2 in) long. The small, yellow to cream flowers, are quite insignificant, and appear at the axils of the leaves, usually in late spring. They are deliciously fragrant, very honey-bearing and nectar-rich. They give way to the formation of small fruits resembling small, beautiful orange-brown olives. The fruit is edible and sweet but dry and somewhat mealy. The root system of this shrub is taprooted, with many vigorous lateral roots.

A bush of Elaeagnus angustifolia stands out from afar, due to the clarity and lunar brilliance of its shimmering foliage. Its vigour, resistance, and great adaptability make it an excellent defensive or windbreak hedge plant, capable of growing in difficult conditions, in full wind and in poor soil. It is valuable in a seaside garden or a dry garden in windy regions. It can be very well used in a mixed hedge, alongside other beautiful shrubs such as Abelia x grandiflora, Arbutus unedo, Amelanchier ovalis, Buddleia alternifolia 'Argentea', or even Hippophae rhamnoides and Citrus trifoliata. In spring, its flowering is capable of perfuming a whole area of the garden!