Oleander

Hi chums. I just bought one of these, thinking it would be hardy ( B&Q had them outside ) but it seems they are not :( Apparently, it will have to be brought in to overwinter at a minimum temp of 10c, which means it'll have to stay in a pot. Can anyone add anything ? Cheers...freddy.

 

That's what I do with mine ....

 

Hi Kristen. Just had another look at the label. On it, it says to PLANT in the GROUND in a sheltered spot. Hmm...

 

Probably means "In a sheltered spot ... in Spain" :hehe:

The source I looked up (PFAF) says it is hardy to zone 8 - so maybe you will be OK

 

Freddy I've bought a few and lost a few.

What I will say is they can take slight frost, the single flowered ones are hardier than the doubles, also I find the doubles dont open their flower very well in the UK outside.

Strongy is probably the man for this one, where is he?

 

Here I is. I have kept mine outside in pots for two years and the last year planted in a raised bed. They have taken the cold winter well even down to -5 but are sheltered by a wall. Not a very sunny position so flowering may not be so good as previous years.

As Pete has mentioned the singles are much hardier than doubles and flower more readily although flowering in our climate is later than the Med as our spring warmth much needed by Oleanders (and us!) is lacking.

I kepty one in a pot outside at work through the winter in a more exposed place and it suffered badly, so I would err on the safe side Freddy and keep it in a pot in a sunny sheltered spot and perhaps overwinter inside as Kristen suggests(if that's possible).

 

I knew you were around somewhere.:D

I'd just like to add that up until this last winter there was a hedge growing in a front garden locally, of oleander.
I've not been that way recently so it may well be dead now, but it had been there for a number of years, planted behind a wall.
Presumably the wall heated up during the day and provided a micro climate.

 

Thanks for the replies fellas. Maybe I could try this. Just plant it out (I have a sunny spot for it) and cover with fleece or something over the colder months, yes ?

 

We've (in Scotland!) got three that have been grown from bits that came away in our hands when caressing an olreander in Greece. One is planted in the garden and two live in pots and have done for the past 5 years. The one in the garden survives, but gets damaged a bit every winter (it never gets any protection) and the two in pots get moved into either the greenhouse or polytunnel for the winter. The two in pots have put out small flowers during good summers, but I don't think we'll ever get a long enough summer to get a full bloom.

 

New to the site but just for info I have grown single varieties outside in my SE Cornwall garden with little real success. Even the lightest frost will scorch them and although flower buds have formed they have yet to actually turn into blooms. I have tried covering in fleece but to be honest it doesn't help. I have one in the border of a cold greenhouse and it looks exactly like one you might see in the Med - happy with large blooms. In my opinion it is a waste of time trying to grow them outside in our generally dismal climate.

 

Mine are planted outside and in bud, I'll post pics when they flower.
They have been outside (previously in pots) for three years and flowered well each summer, one even produced seeds which I have grown plants from.

 

Hi there chums. Just thought I'd share a pic with you



Cheers...freddy.

 

Hi Freddy, they look nice and healthy, they are fairly smalll and at that size unless they put on considerable amount of growth will suffer badly in a cold winter so yes they may need protection later on. Let's hope for a mild one.

 

Hi strongylodon. A mild one will certainly be welcome. I've had a thought. I can get hold of a kinda fleece. It's made of polystyrene and around 1-2mm thick. What if I used several layers of this ? Naturally, light would be considerably cut down. Would this be significant ?
Cheers...freddy.

 

Lack of winter light would be detremental to Oleanders. I've never covered mine (too tall) so I'm not sure about a few layers, therefore I wouldn't use it permanently throughout the winter, only if below freezing.