I spent a wonderful day with Ted Turner, Sr. and Ted Turner, Jr. at their nursery Turners Gardenland in Corpus Christi, Texas, recording their experiences with oleanders. We walked through greenhouses filled with oleanders in bloom, photographed Ted Sr.'s latest hybrids, viewed rows of container-grown oleanders being pruned to multi-trunk specimens and patio trees, and visited landscapes that featured their hybrids in full bloom.

Ted Sr. began working with oleanders more than 15 years ago. He was motivated and inspired by two factors; the first was that everyone seemed to be hybridizing hibiscus in those days and no one to his knowledge was working on oleanders, a plant that he loved for its floriferousness and ease of culture. The second occurred on a vacation in the Caribbean islands. Ted Sr. and Ted Jr. were snorkeling in an area full of sea urchins and soon became bored. They decided to explore the dry land instead and while walking around came upon an oleander hedge that was, in their words, "fantastic." It was a dwarf plant with many buds but as Ted Sr. recalled, "• • • some of them [the buds] didn't open up, the blossoms didn't open up. It looked like little pink globes sitting on top of it. Really odd!" They collected seeds from this hedge and their hybridizing program was launched.

With a clear idea of their goal and what they wanted to achieve, Ted Sr. stated: "We already had one of the best oleanders in the world with 'Petite Salmon'. What we wanted were more dwarf oleanders, more colors in a 'petite' oleander and what I call a 'free-blooming oleander.'" Ted Jr.'s definition of a free-blooming oleander is one that that will bloom eight or nine months of the year in the Corpus Christi area: "If they're growing, they're blooming, that's what it amounts to. It has to be hot enough for them to grow and if they're growing they're going to bloom outside from April to October or November." Additional goals were to develop plants especially suited for container culture, smaller landscape plants and a dwarfred form. (See Chapter 5 for detailed descriptions of the Turner hybrids.)

Page 55

The Monrovia Hybrids

The Monrovia introductions are not only valuable for their smaller size but for their exceptional flower production. Newding reports that in the Gulf Coast area most of them will remain in bloom from April through the hottest part of the summer until the first cold snap which usually occurs in November. Another outstanding characteristic is their bright, crisp color quality which Newding describes as "iridescent" and "neon." As he says, "In the early morning sun and the twilight they almost seem to glow."

Ted Turner, Jr. also remarked on the flower quality of the Monrovia series calling the red of 'Algiers' "fluorescent" and noting the tendency of several of the varieties to bloom more profusely in the fall as does 'Turner's Tickled Pink'. This is especially useful in landscaping for providing color at a time of year when many other plants have finished flowering.

Dwarf Series — 'Marrakesh'™ and 'Morocco'™. The origin of these two varieties was seed collected in 1986 by Audrey Teasdale, a botanist at Monrovia Nursery. The seedlings were grown at Monrovia's Azusa, California, loca- tion and 'Marrakesh' and 'Morocco' were selected in 1989. The goal of this selection process was to develop a series of olean- ders that were small in stature and better suited to today's smaller gar- dens. The series was re- leased to the nursery trade in 1994.

Intermediate-sized Series— 'Algiers'™, 'Cas- ablanca'™, Tangier'™. While in Algeria, former chairman of the board of Monrovia Nursery, Howard Past spotted these colorful, intermediate- sized specimens in a cem- etery. Recognizing their commercial potential with the main benefit being re- duced maintenance and adpatability to average

Photo courtesy Monrovia Nursery Company

Morocco™

Page 56

residential landscaping, he took cuttings back to California where they were rooted. The series was introduced by Monrovia in 1978.

Intermediate Size — 'Ruby Lace'™. This variety was given to Monrovia Nurs- • 1984 by a hobbyist who had been growing the plant in his yard in Anaheim, rf mia for 19 years. It was then propagated by Monrovia and introduced in

(See Chapter 5 for detailed descriptions of the Monrovia hybrids.)

The Israel Hybrids

For some years Clarence Pleasants corresponded with Mr. Zafrir, the author of Oleanders In Israel and sold copies of Mr. Zafrir's book in the United States. Through their correspondence, Clarence received some cuttings of dwarf varieties but they arrived in very poor condition and none survived. Another time an Egyptian gentle- man visiting the United States told Clarence of the hybridizing work in Israel and mentioned that many varieties were carefully selected for their exceptionally dwarf characteristics and their hardiness in the desert.