Re: Nerium Oleander in SW UK

Here in San Francisco, California, where summers are
very cool, Oleander only blooms during and after heat
waves. Our usual summer high temperatures stay below
20C, and Nerium forms buds but they don't open until
we get three or four days above 25 or 26C. The best
bet then for you would be to plant wherever's sunniest
& heat accumulates. Here, those buds closest to a warm
wall will open while those away from the wall will
stay closed when the temps are marginal for bloom.
Good luck.
Jason Dewees
San Francisco, California
USDA 10a

--- Tristram Smyth <tsmyth@eclipse.co.uk> wrote:
> Fellow medit-gardeners,
> 
> Could I ask some general advice re Nerium's? I
> realise this query
> is specifically about their use in the UK but others
> of you in
> different locations may well have valuable advice
> nonetheless for
> which I would be grateful.
> 
> I am a recent member of this group and, from
> previous postings,
> some of you may well recall that I am planting up a
> 2 acre mixed
> woodland and full sun area in a sheltered coastal
> site in SW
> England. I would like to try a couple of Oleander's
> since winter
> frosts hardly ever get below -5 degrees centigrade
> here but
> reading Arnold-Forster's "Shrubs for the milder
> counties" it
> seems that there is a problem getting them to flower
> outside in
> the UK. Given the right conditions, they grow very
> well but, it
> seems, the flower buds they produce fail to open.
> The explanation
> given by the author is that the new growth below the
> buds takes
> up nutriment that would otherwise go to promote
> flowering and,
> therefore, should be removed.
> 
> This advice, sure, was given many years ago since
> the book was
> first published in 1948 but it's still a classic in
> its own
> right. What's the general experience of others who
> might be in a
> similar climatic situation and do they subscribe to
> this remedy?
> Also, which varieties would be most suitable for
> this particular
> locality - if any!
> 
> Regards to all,
> 
> Tristram Smyth
>
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