The Handbook on Oleanders

Mrs. Burton

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If thou wouldst attain to thy highest, go look upon a flower;

what that does will-lessly , do thou willingly.

Friedrich von schiller

Introduction

What a great moment in time to be on earth witnessing such vast changes on all levels of human endeavor, experiencing almost daily technological breakthroughs that promise longer and healthier life, the exchange of information on unprecedented levels and the nascent possibilities of peace on the global horizon.

One of the frontiers of our age where technology, working hand in hand with Mother Nature, has before it a unique opportunity to forge exciting new possibilities is in the world of plants. Only a few generations ago horticulturists and growers were stretching the envelope with the idea of crossing species, or hybridizing, and most of the monumental task of identifying and naming plant genera and species was carried out worldwide by a handful of adventurous, dedicated and indomitable plantsmen. Today, even in the high-tech culture that permeates our daily lives —, from microwave cooking to virtual reality systems that may soon allow us to experience a plant from the molecules of its vascular system — it is still somewhat amazing to realize that botanists are not only enhancing existing species by selective breeding, but are literally creating new species through the technique of gene splicing. And yet, on a warm spring day when every plant and flower seems bursting with its own perfect beauty, it seems we could live a thousand years yet barely begin to experience and appreciate what Mother Nature has already placed at our doorstep. Perhaps through this book we can open another small door.

During the months of May and June we may immerse ourselves in the colorful and often fragrant world of oleanders. One can find major oleander plantings in the United States in Zones 9 and 10 and the warmer parts of Zone 8, especially the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia, and in the southernmost areas of the Gulf Coast states. Spring through early summer is an ideal time to travel a few of the thousands of miles of freeways and highways in California that are graced with these exceptionally durable plants whose toughness and long- flowering qualities are legendary. This is also the best season to visit Galveston and Corpus Christi in Texas, to view thousands of stunning, floriferous shrubs laden with colorful blooms, or to travel to Disney World to witness at their peak the masses of oleanders, especially the extraordinary tree forms, that have inspired so many visitors with their cheerful colors.

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These days it seems we find references to oleanders everywhere: Nerium News, the newsletter of the International Oleander Society, tells of Oleander Avenue in Niles, Illinois, and Mr. Donald Becker who grows oleanders in pots and distributes them to other residents of Oleander Avenue hoping one day the street will be filled with oleanders in bloom. We also visited with a CEO of a major real estate development firm, an avid golfer, who spoke of having recently played the "Oleander Course" at Jekyll Island, Georgia. A current issue of American Record Guide features an article on new music in Russia by Harlow Robinson where we learn about the music festival in Sochi, Russia, a town with a population of 400,000 in the Black Sea resort area that is a subtropical paradise "with its rocky azure beaches and blooming oleanders. . . ."

Oleanders are grown extensively in warm coastal areas around the world. Anyone who has ever taken a holiday in the Mediterranean could not fail to be impressed by the oleanders that are in bloom everywhere, especially on the Greek Islands. The oleander has been a beloved plant for centuries in Europe, the Middle East and China, and it is extensively cultivated in public and private gardens in Africa and Australia. We have been inspired by magnificent plantings in Mexico, on tropical islands, and in gardens of India and Southeast Asia. In fact, in our years in India we rarely saw a garden that did not have a planting of oleanders. In Complete Gardening In India, K.S. Gopalaswamiengar writes: "The Oleanders are some of the most delightful of fine flowering shrubs, which no Indian garden is without."

Our fascination with oleanders and their importance in the landscape began nearly thirty years ago when we started building the Matrimandir Gardens in Auroville in southern India. We traveled the length and breadth of the Indian sub- continent studying and collecting thousands of flowering tropicals to introduce into the gardens. Our journeys took us to many other tropical areas as well, searching for new plants in Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Hawaii, Mexico, Japan, the Caribbean Islands and the continental United States. Interestingly, our lasting memory of oleanders in Asia is of the strong and delightfully sweet scent of the flowers. Although oleanders were easily grown and propagated in southern India, requiring little care even in that challenging climate, there were 'only a few varieties available. It was only when we returned to the United States in 1981 and moved to Houston, Texas, where we had the opportunity to visit Galveston, that we began to realize the great wealth of flower colors, the vibrant shades which ranged from red through pink to yellow and white, and the variety in sizes and shapes that are now available. Subsequent visits to California reminded us of their excellence as mass plantings to soothe the highway traveler along mile after mile of freeways. Visits to Corpus Christi, Texas, introduced us to other spectacular hybrids, from compact, petite and dwarf forms eminently suitable for container culture to small trees offering months of splendid bloom. The delicate beauty of its flowers coupled with the oleander's ability to withstand heat, drought, high winds, saline conditions, freeway traffic and air pollution and still continue to bloom for months at a time was all the impetus we needed to write about this very special genus, Nerium. We hope to bring this tough, adaptable and beautiful plant to the attention of the thousands of gardeners who have followed our efforts to introduce unique and colorful tropicals and subtropicals to

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American gardens, and to encourage people everywhere to grow some of the new, free-blooming cultivars as well as some of the great varieties that have been developed during the past 100 years.

And so we begin a journey to explore another special flowering plant, the oleander, to learn that it has been grown and loved for centuries and is undoubtedly one of the plants spoken of in the Bible and other ancient religious texts. In India the flowers are thought by many to hold special spiritual significances. The following is from the book Flowers and Their Messages by The Mother, a French woman by birth, who spent her life in India and became revered for her work and teachings.

On the Significance of Flowers

Question to the Mother: "How do you give a significance to a flower?”

 Answer: "By entering into contact with it and giving a more or less precise meaning to what I feel. . . by entering into contact with the nature of the flower, its inner truth; then one knows what it represents.”

Flowers speak to us when we know how to listen to them,

— it is a subtle and fragrant language.

The Mother

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