On May 1st this year I bought 5 Turner's Tickled Pink (dwarf) oleanders at big box store. Planted 18 inches from wall, full sun until about 2:00 pm. They had small amount of burn on a few leafs when I bought them. (Got to be more cautious in the future.) Have had ZERO growth and now have lots of burned leafs. Guess they were "nuked" with fertilizer by the grower. Never had oleanders before. Am wondering if I should just give up and take them back and cash in on that year's guarantee, or do I have some hope they can recover? Are oleanders usually hard to start? I see them all over town in very difficult locations and assumed they were easy to grow.
New Oleanders doing very poorly
I dont know what to tell you about the burnt places- i think it MUST be fertilizer burn because oleandes can take lots of heat and sun. They are after all a
tropical plant. But if it were me, I would go on and return them while you can.
Oleanders ae super easy
to root, I remember my Daddy would nrong cuttings frpm the ones at work when they were pruned. He would put
them in (glass) coke bottles woth wate in them and set them in the gatage on a shelf where they got NO direct sunlight, but some indirect sunlight,
and they would root like magic!
He made them into a living fence aound the backyard andthey reached probably 20 feet tall.
Our insurance agent has some about 5 ft tall at
present and has given me permision to take currings.
I plan to root them myself.
Love, BajaBlue
Oleanders are tough plants....but when just getting started,...in this heat,....they need regular water. Once established with a good root ball,...they'll fare better during these heat waves. Same goes when they're in pots,...still need the water when the root ball is small....you can almost kill them,...and they will bounce back. I wouldn't give up on them at all.