Nerium oleander is flowering

[Hans J]

Dear all ,

yes -I know Nerium is not a typical plant for a rockgarden .....but maybe some will like those flowers

Now here is again sun and we have a lot of flowers in this time on our terrasse :

Nerium oleander red flowers ( bougth from a nursery in Cannobio/ Italy)
Nerium oleander pink flowers ( grown from seed by myself- this is a cross between our red and the white ...now around 13years old )
Nerium oleander white flowers ( from friends )
Nerium oleander pink flore plena ( from neighbars )
Nerium oleander salmon flowers ( from friends )
Nerium oleander yellow flowers ( bougth from a nursery in South France )

In fall when we must bring all this big and heavy pots in our cellar and garage we are sometimes not so happy with them ....but now it is wonderful !

Best wishes
Hans

[Maggi Young]

What nice variety you have there, Hans. These flowers remind me of our gardens in Libya.....no need to be protecting those plants in winter!  My Mother was especially fond of them, she would have loved the yellow, but I don't remember having that colour.

[Hans J]

Maggi ,

you make me envy with your time in Lybia
You write it also in a other tread about the turtles that you have live there .....
there are many interesting plants -special when I think on Cyclamen rolfsianum ...now inthis time is it not so funny to go there ...

[Renate Brinkers]

Hi Hans,

you have a nice range of varieties. Most time you can see a pink one, maybe a white one, but not all those colours in one garden.
Bye the way, now I know where to send my small Nerium which I have grown from seed *grin*

[Hans J]

Do you like any cuttings Renate ?

[Paul T]

Hans,

They're a good grower in our climate here as well.  Good old fashioned "grandmother" type of plant (i.e one of those old plants grown by your grandmother).  I've seen the yellow in nurseries this summer but I already have a few (semi-double white, double apricot, double apricot with variegated leaves, single "red", peach) but if I had room I'd grow more.  Such a long show of flowers and no care or attention required.

Out of interest, why do you shelter these in winter?  I thought they should do fine for you outside?  I know cold is no problem at all to them here, not by a long way, but I guess you must get colder there.

[Lesley Cox]

They do very well in the warmer, coastal parts of NZ too. A few about Dunedin as well. I remember huge great flowering plants in Greece. Magnificent, they were.

[Hans J]

Hans,

They're a good grower in our climate here as well.  Good old fashioned "grandmother" type of plant (i.e one of those old plants grown by your grandmother).  I've seen the yellow in nurseries this summer but I already have a few (semi-double white, double apricot, double apricot with variegated leaves, single "red", peach) but if I had room I'd grow more.  Such a long show of flowers and no care or attention required.

Out of interest, why do you shelter these in winter?  I thought they should do fine for you outside?  I know cold is no problem at all to them here, not by a long way, but I guess you must get colder there.

Paul ,

I agree not that this plants are easy ....it is always a shock from the cellar to the garden and back -and a lot of animal and fungi like the Oleander - I have to do a lot to make it in this condition !
We have it tried with let them outside on a shelter place ....they have survived but they looks really bad in next spring .
The problem is they can survive until - 5 ° C ......but for the buds ( for next year is this not well ).
I have seen this plants often around the mediterranean sea -always along rivers ( nero is greek and it means water ) -they grows there always only in frostfree areas -the plants are there until 4- 5 m high and has very strong branches .....this plants are really healthy and need no care !

[t00lie]

 Interesting Thread

At our previous ,(sunnier) ,property only 3 ks away from here i grew Nerium in a very dry spot under the east eaves of the house were it received the morning sun and was sheltered from the prevailing westerly weather. Admittedly some of the foliage blackened after frosts up to -9C occurred however it flowered reliably ,but late in the season .At the time we sold the property the plant had reached about 2.5 metres in height.

 I must go past the house to see if the plant still exists as i'd love to have a go at growing it again.

Any ideas on how easy they are from cuttings ?--is bottom heat is a requirement?.

Cheers dave.

[Paul T]

Hans,

They're used here at times in council plantings, out in the open with no protection of any form.  They thrive at -9'C and colder in parts of Canberra, flowering prolifically every year.  Some years I prune mine just before winter and they sail through without a problem at all.  I find that if you prune them each year they end up much thicker, thereby becoming less rangy and "see through" like they do if left to grow by themselves.  I certainly had no idea that they weren't supposed to like frost..... they usually get plenty of it around here.    Not this year though as it has been a very mild winter so far.

[Hans J]

Dave :

They are easy from cuttings .....take it in a jar ,fill it with water ,pit the cuttings inside -thats all ....after some weeks they have roots

Paul :

It seems you have a better climate for Oleander - maybe we have more rain ....

[Paul T]

I'm wondering actually whether our hotter summers mature the wood better to initiate flowers or something like that?  I know that a lot of people here on the forums have been surprised at some of the things that grow here quite happily which don't do as well elsewhere...... so often it seems that it isn't the winter temps that are the killers but rather the absence of a strong summer.  Then again with the good alpines our strong summers are a death sentence.    What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabout. (now, how many of you are going to understand that comment?  No idea whether it is an Australianism or not!  )

[t00lie]

Thanks Hans

Looks like i'll need to go *tiki touring to see if i can obtain cutting material .If so i'll give it a go as if i remember correctly the plant in question was a nice soft apricot colour.

Paul --swings and roundabouts --well understood this side of the ditch .

*Now how many are going to understand 'tiki touring'......Hehe.



Cheers dave.

[Diane Clement]

I'm wondering actually whether our hotter summers mature the wood better to initiate flowers or something like that?  I know that a lot of people here on the forums have been surprised at some of the things that grow here quite happily which don't do as well elsewhere...... so often it seems that it isn't the winter temps that are the killers but rather the absence of a strong summer.

I think the lack of enough summer warmth must be the issue with oleanders. We have grown them for several years, but never once a flower.  They are just about hardy here, but as Hans says, they do not enjoy the winter and the buds drop.  We have tried leaving them out all winter in a sheltered place, and we have tried bringing them into a frost free situation.  But never a flower, although the buds form, they then drop.  I've seen them in the wild, in southern Spain where they were growing in a seasonal wet stream bed with constant water in spring, but very hot and dry in the summer.  Hard to replicate that here. 

[art600]

Dave

No idea what 'tiki touring' is, but I do recognise Paul's swings & roundabouts'