Product Description:
Oleander is a rapidly growing evergreen, rounded shrub or small tree native to Europe and Asia. It grows to heights between 6.5′ and 19.5′ tall and 6′ to 10′ wide. Oleander (Nerium oleander) grows naturally as a mounded, round shrub, or it can be trained as a small single- or multi-trunked tree. The evergreen foliage is dense, leathery, and dark green, offering a privacy screen when planted in groups or borders. Delicately shaped, showy, fragrant flowers tend to be pink, while some varieties produce red, orange, yellow, or white flowers. Blooming for an especially long period, the one- to three-inch flowers appear from spring to summer and sometimes early fall and year-round in warmer climates.
Light:
Oleander prefers full sun. It will also tolerate partial shade, but its foliage won’t be as dense.
Soil:
Plant in well-drained soil for best results. Oleander shrubs can adapt to many kinds of soil conditions: poor soil, sandy soil, and a range of pH levels between 5.0 and 8.3.
Water:
Water whenever the top inch of the soil becomes dry.
Fertilizer:
Feed poor soil with light dose of a balanced fertilizer during the plant’s first spring and a light fertilization yearly thereafter.
Temperature and Humidity:
Oleander can tolerate light frost and temperatures as low as 20 degrees Fahrenheit. In climates where temperatures reach any lower than that, grow the plant in a container and bring it indoors for winter.
Pruning:
The best time to prune oleanders is during late winter just before new growth occurs (February through March). Oleanders bloom in summer on new growth.
Propagating:
Oleander can be propagated by stem cutting.