Oleander Hardiness

---

It isn't just winter minimum temperatures, of course, which account for hardiness or lack of. Winter minima here on the Solway Firth in N.W. England rarely dip below -3C and then only for a few hours during an occasional night or two - but I can't grow oleander in the ground. Why? My guess is a combination of (a) summer temperatures too low to harden the old wood thoroughly, (b) my soil naturally too rich and moisture-retentive (I'm too old and idle now to play around with modifying it to any great extent), (c) too much year-round rain. Indeed for years I struggled to get oleanders to flower well even when wintered under glass as a pot plant then hauled outside to flower in summer. I've now given up the struggle. And passed my plants on to a friend with friendlier conditions - steep south-facing slope, well-drained low-nutrient soil - oh, and including as a last resort a vast Victorian orangery. You could almost hear the poor brutes saying, 'Yes! At last! That's what neriums like!'

 

Tim Longville