Cold hardiness & minimum temperature

Is Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata)cold hardy? Hardiness zone & min temp

Also called autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus, Japanese silverberry.

More about autumn olive

About Autumn Olive

Elaeagnus umbellata · also called autumn olive, autumn elaeagnus · edible

Autumn olive is a vigorous, silvery-leaved deciduous shrub bearing fragrant cream flowers and abundant speckled red, lycopene-rich berries. Nitrogen-fixing and tough on poor soils, it crops heavily in full sun. Note that it is highly invasive across much of North America, so plant only where permitted and where spread can be controlled.

Cold limit: USDA 3-8 · RHS H6 (-30 to 35°C)

What autumn olive's hardiness rating actually means

Yes — autumn olive is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H6 and USDA 3-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. Its RHS rating of H6 means: Hardy throughout the UK and northern Europe. On the US scale that maps to USDA 3-8 — the zones where it can be left outdoors year-round.

New to these scales? The USDA hardiness zone map explained covers how the zone numbers work, and you can find your own zone with the zone finder.

Minimum temperature — and what happens below it

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −20 to −15 °C. Autumn Olive is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

Concretely, for autumn olive as it gets too cold:

It tolerates winter lows to about −20 to −15 °C once established.
Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root.
First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.

Can autumn olive go outside or overwinter — and where?

Plant it out within USDA 3-8 and it overwinters with little or no help.
It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy.
The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

Work back from your local frost dates with the frost-date calculator: the last spring frost and first autumn frost are what really decide when autumn olive can be outside. US growers can check USDA zones; UK growers should use the RHS hardiness ratings, which match the H6 figure above.

Autumn Olive hardiness — frequently asked questions

Is autumn olive cold hardy?

Yes — autumn olive is genuinely cold hardy. Rated RHS H6 and USDA 3-8, it lives outdoors all year and needs winter cold rather than protection from it. An outdoor plant. Autumn Olive is hardy across USDA 3-8; it belongs in the ground or a frost-proof container, not on a windowsill, and many types actively need a cold winter to perform.

What is the minimum temperature autumn olive can survive?

Minimum survivable temperature is roughly about −20 to −15 °C. Autumn Olive is built for winter — once established it takes hard frost and snow in its stride.

What hardiness zone is autumn olive?

Autumn Olive is rated USDA 3-8 and RHS H6 — Hardy throughout the UK and northern Europe.

Can autumn olive survive winter outside?

Plant it out within USDA 3-8 and it overwinters with little or no help. It does not want to come indoors — a warm winter room actually weakens a hardy plant by denying it dormancy. The real risks in its range are waterlogging, wind-rock on young plants, and a late hard frost on new growth — not ordinary winter cold.

What happens to autumn olive below its minimum temperature?

It tolerates winter lows to about −20 to −15 °C once established. Below its rated zone, the visible damage is browned or blackened top growth and, in the worst case, a killed crown or root. First-year, newly planted, or container-grown specimens are noticeably less hardy than established garden plants — the roots are exposed.