During a vacation in Brittany or in the Mediterranean basin, who hasn't fallen in love with the splendid flowering of the oleander? Bringing back a cutting is very tempting, but you will have to know how to acclimatize this frileuse to see it grow.
The oleander, a perfume from elsewhere...
As a shrub or as a tree with a real trunk, the oleander is one of those plants that inspire vacations. Crossed with the liking of the strolls on the littorals where the climate remains soft all the year, this shrub evokes the joys of idleness and the evenings spent under its delicate scents. Because in addition to being beautiful, the oleander distils a sweet fragrance mixing almond and vanilla.
At the roadside, it takes the place of the usual plane trees and other trees of alignment in some villages of the extreme South. Another advantage is that it blooms continuously from June to October, which makes it an outstanding ornamental subject.
In Mediterranean gardens, it is used to compose hedges to nicely underline a fence or to shelter from prying eyes around a swimming pool. Pruned as a tree, it is an unparalleled ornamental subject on a lawn.
It embellishes the backgrounds of beds with its beauty and blends in with rhododendrons and azaleas to relay their blooms in Breton gardens. The temptation is therefore great to cut it or to buy a subject in a garden center or at a plant festival...
An oleander in the North ?
The oleander (Nerium oleander) is native to the Mediterranean basin where it grows spontaneously at the foot of waterways. This is why a newly planted subject will need regular watering, especially in hot regions, contrary to what may be said here and there! Once well installed, it supports the heat and the dryness without concern.
The oleander is a cold plant that does not tolerate frost except very occasionally, for a short time and of low amplitude. Its planting in the open ground in the North and in mountainous regions is therefore not recommended. It is preferable to plant it in pots in order to be able to overwinter it in a greenhouse, veranda or winter garden as soon as the first frosts arrive.
The typical species with single pink flowers resists a little better to the cold than the cultivars with very double flowers. The yellow (very rare) and salmon colors are much more fragile and therefore to be avoided in the coldest regions under penalty of disappointment.
To obtain an opulent bloom, place your oleander in full sun and in the warmest place of your garden or balcony. Water it very often, especially in summer.
Prune the oleander with moderation because it produces its flowers on the previous year's wood. However, if you want to contain it, prune it just after flowering, keeping some branches intact.
