Oleanders make for Spring, Summer and Fall Show of Color
Oleander (Nerium oleander) is an evergreen shrub that makes a great specimen plant when planted in the garden but also makes a great hedge or container plant. However you decide to use this plant — shrub, hedge or standard (tree) — it will always be a very colorful and showy plant.
Oleanders bloom from spring to fall and come in orange, pink, red, white and yellow. Some have single flowers; others have a double bloom. Flowers are usually in clusters at the ends of the branches. Oleanders can grow up to 12 feet tall and wide.
Oleanders were used years ago in almost all landscapes and then went out of favor. But like many South Florida plants, they are making a strong comeback.
Oleanders will grow in almost any soil, are salt tolerant and require very little water once established. Oleanders do not require fertilizer, but fertilizing in spring and fall will help your oleanders with their maximum flowering potential and will keep the plant healthy.
Oleanders love full Florida sun. This trait alone makes this plant a big winner, because most plants have a difficult time existing in a Southern location. It’s also popular with highway departments for highway beautification projects; you will see them planted in masses on sides of overpasses because of their tolerance to heat and reflected heat (off the road), and tolerance for low water, with long-lasting clusters of bright flowers.
Just imagine how well they will grow in a maintained garden with just a little care. Oleanders will grow in some shade but will produce fewer flowers and will get leggy.
Prune oleanders in the fall to help with shape and new growth in the spring. Trim just above a node. A node is where the new leaves come out. Left to grow naturally, oleanders become huge mounds, but they can take hard pruning so they can be controlled. Oleanders should never be trimmed into a box or ball. As a matter of fact, I don’t think any plant should be trimmed into a box or ball. I have a feeling I’ve said this before.
Suckers that grow out from the ground and the base of the trunk of the plant should be removed as soon as they sprout. The suckers are a form of new growth that only take nutrients and moisture from the main plant and make the main plant look rangy and unsightly. If freeze damage occurs, the leaves will drop, but the plant will recover quickly in the spring.
The one so-called problem, depending on whom you talk to, is that the oleander gets a caterpillar, which is a rust or orange color with black hairs, looking very much like larva of the Gulf fritillary butterfly.These guys can strip an oleander plant in no time at all. They can be controlled by simple pruning or by using a Bacillus thuringiensis (Thuracide) which will control these caterpillars.
Now, for other, more bug-friendly people, this caterpillar turns into a beautiful moth with blue wings with white polka dots and red body, sometimes referred to as the American moth because of its red, white and blue colors. It is a day-flying moth and easily recognizable because of the colors.
All parts of the oleander plant are poisonous. Please do not eat. If you feel the need to chew on any of your plants, you might want to seek help. Some people get an allergic reaction from just touching oleander, so be careful. It’s been said when George Washington was crossing the Delaware River, to stay warm some of his men collected wood for an overnight fire; they used oleander trees and, needless to say, the men never woke up because of inhaling the smoke from the fire all night.
So if you are in the market for easy-to-grow shrub that will bloom for three seasons (who isn't?), oleander is for you.
Remember, to help save the monarch butterfly, plant milkweed, and keep butterflying!
Mike Malloy, known as the Naples “butterfly guy,” sells host and nectar plants for butterflies as well as tropical plants at the Third Street South farmers market every Saturday morning.