Oleanders

[GJ]

In May I went to Texas and got some new oleanders and other plants.
Texas has plants you can't get in Florida ! At least I have had no
luck so far. Take Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) 'Silverado'
for example, a stunningly compact cultivar which is almost globular
in habit.

When I got back to Grenada I realised that the oleander 'Petite White'
I had bought was mislabelled. So I just went back to get the real
'Petite White' ! What else is a guy to do?
I made some calls and booked a plant from Cornelius Nurseries in
Houston.
I arrived on July 4th, forgetting it was a big national holiday in the
US. Didn't matter though, in fact planes and airports were not
crowded.

I'm a member of the International Oleander Society with headquarters
in Galveston, so I got some cuttings of very desirable varieties
besides, plus I got my Petite White in Houston. However, it has
turned out to be very lacking in vigour for me and the plants and
cuttings are still struggling. Someone had bought for me a plant in a
nursery which was labelled 'Petite White', howeverr, Mrs. Elizabeth
Head, a past president of the society, thought it was really
Casablanca, a cultivar brought from Morocco by Monrovia nurseries.
This is now in flower and has lovely pure white flowers without any
yellow in the throat, but it has a little pink at the base of the
outside of the tube. Here it is:

[IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a351/grenadajohn/
PICT0412-1.jpg[/IMG]

A cutting I got from the streets of Galveston is of the very
attractive 'Mrs. Willard Cooke', although it is a tall variety. The
flowers are almost white but there are pink stripes in the throat,
hard to see in this photo:

[IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a351/grenadajohn/
PICT0433-1.jpg[/IMG]

I was extremely glad on my first trip to get the North African variety
'Algiers', as it is a true red and not a dark pink:

[IMG]http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a351/grenadajohn/
PICT0708-1.jpg[/IMG]

I doubt I could have got these varieties without going to Texas.

A disease called Oleander scorch has decimated oleanders in California
and Monrovia no longer grows them. In Florida they are troubled by
another disease spread by insect vectors and a caterpillar.
Fortunately they do extremely well in Grenada.

I should be glad to hear of the experiences of others with oleanders.

Grenada John.

[ariscott]

My dad (he lives in Jakarta) absolutely love oleander, because they
are always in flower. He has some different varieties, but I am not
too sure what they are as I don't grow them myself. They are not very
popular here in Australia, not many are planted. Maybe because they
are poisonous, but then... so are most plants. But, I never heard
about any diseases though. They grow like weeds for him.

Regards, Ari :)

[GJ]

Interesting. Could anyone else say why oleanders are not popular in
Australia?

John.

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[fastfeat]

John--

Thanks for posting these. I was a big oleander fan (though I never
joined the O' Society) for many years in CA, at least 'till the
bacterium that causes Pierce's Disease jumped from grapes to Nerium
(and many other, wildly unrelated landscape plants, such as
liquidambar, Prunus, and olive!!). It has totally devastated
oleanders, once a basic landscape shrub and tree. Why people still
grow them there is beyond me.

In FL, though they grow, they just don't impress me after seeing how
well they did grow in a Mediterranean climate--just too soft, not
nearly as showy. Not to mention the caterpillars (absent in CA) that
can strip them (and Thevetia) in no time.

Since you're a Society member, I'm curious as to if there is a true
"purple" cultivar. Seems I remember reading in some Oleander Society
publication years ago about one. Any info?