Manzanillo Olive Tree
Manzanillo Olive trees are considered to be moderately cold hardy and have easily survived through temperatures of 12 degrees F in Southern Georgia showing no twig or leaf damage. In American supermarkets the Manzanillo olive is the most popular eating olive at the table, and it is also highly esteemed as a pressing olive used in the production of olive oil. Ripening as early as September the Manzanillo Olive trees continue to ripen though October and November, and the olives are harvested from under the trees in the green-ripe stage and the black-ripe stages. Some ancient olive trees in Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives date back 2000 years. When old large limbs are pruned on large aged olive trees, new branches grow and a new olive crop grows. Tourists visit the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem by the thousands every year to visit the olive trees near the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed and the Jewish cemetery where thousands of Jewish saints were buried. Jesus spent his last hours of freedom before his arrest and later crucifiction by Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane which is located on the Mount of Olives. Not only is the Manzanillo Olive tree cold hardy, but it is resistant to extremely high Summer temperatures and having a built in drought resistance rarely needs watering except by rain.