Monday, January 24, 2011

The Oleander Handbook

The Handbook on Oleanders by Richard and Mary Helen Eggenberger is a book of great charm and is the definitive guide to the cultivation of Oleanders and other members of the Apocynaceae Family. It is also a book about a community of keen gardeners who did much to beautify and transform the US City of Galveston with their enthusiasm for this one plant. Up until now, any mention of Galveston got me humming the Jimmy Webb country song about the Spanish American War of 1898 ('I still hear your sea waves crashing /as I watch the cannons flashing / I clean my gun/ And dream of Galveston')
I caught the bug for growing Oleanders during the long years of drought and when I came across a variety I had never seen before I was hooked. I saw the one pictured below in a friend's garden and just had to propagate from it. It is a hose-in-hose pale pink flower with a pearly sheen to the petals ,very delicate and exquisite looking. The parent plant was not particularly robust at a little over 2 metres tall and with smaller leaves than normal. Like many plants you see potential in, this is one I will have to grow on for a few years and perhaps develop as a standard tree shape to show off the delicate flowers to best advantage.
2017 update: I have stock of a range of different Oleanders. Love 'em
 Pale pink hose-in-hose Oleander






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