Several of our neighbors planted oleander bushes along the road, and since ours are way in the back corner these photos are from the Tree Frogs villa down the street. The slightly tubular flowers have 5 petals, with short feathery stamens. Long leaves are lance shaped and grow on the stems all the way to the ground.
The flowers are gorgeous! The bushes themselves look weedy unless trimmed, and in this climate it takes a lot of trimming to keep bushes in line. When I first saw the bushes without any flowers they reminded me of goldenrod, tall stems that come up from the base with long skinny leaves.
All the oleander here are light pink, rose or creamy yellow. All are pretty, clear colors and have a light sweet scent.
Here are the rose flowers followed by the bush to show the darker green colors.
The rose oleander bushes here are somewhat taller with darker green leaves and the flower clusters are smaller than the pink. I don’t know whether that’s typical or simply these particular bushes.
The yellow oleander around us bloom constantly. Flowers are a light creamy yellow with darker centers.
You might be able to tell from that flower cluster picture that the bush is sparser than the rose or red, to me it looks weedy, not very attractive.
Much as I like the flowers, I wouldn’t plant oleander along a walkway. Ours are lovely spots of color in the back corner, available to pick and enjoy without the bush itself obtruding.
You can pick oleander and have it last a few days. Individual flowers will fall off but the younger flowers in the clusters lengthen vase life.
Per Clemson University’s website oleander come in white, peach, salmon and deeper red than we have here. They note the plants do best in full sun, tolerate salt and require warmth, cannot tolerate cold below about 15 to 20 degrees. Here in Nevis we rarely get below 70 degrees, it never frosts so the heat requirement is not a problem! I noticed the lankiest bushes nearby get some shade.
Clemson suggests using the bushes for an informal hedge. One of our neighbors had done that with the rose oleander and they have grown together quite well. The hedge is in shade much of the day and rarely blooms.
Do know that oleander is poisonous! The plant’s sap can irritate some people – good to know if you choose to cut any for indoors – and if you burn the branches the smoke can irritate. Do NOT EAT any part of the plant!
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