Oleander Bloom Question

Hello everyone. Last year I planted some oleander shrubs around a light pole. They've been blooming well ever since. However, since we got that extremely cold weather last month and hard freeze this month (hard freeze in zone 10a lol), the blooms on the oleander haven't changed their state. They look as if they've been "frozen in time". Is it possible that cold damage will stop a bloom from flowering? I "pinched" some of the blooms, and they feel hollow inside. These blooms usually open fairly quickly from this state, so could someone help me in determining what to do? Should I trim them off and allow more to grow? They won't die and fall off on their own, the plant seems to keep feeding them energy, but they don't open! Here's picture one of two. Thanks in advance!

Pic of entire area.

your picture shows buds, no blooms, and i would suspect that even though they don't look damaged, they are. i wouldn't pinch them off one at a time but rather cut the whole panicle back to the first or second set of leaves. they actually look pretty amazing for having been through a hard freeze. did you cover them? and if not, how cold did it get there? the ones up here are toast but they'll come back.

make sure you wash your hands thoroughly after any contact with oleander.

Thanks for the advise trackinsand - I always know I can count on you! I didn't cover them because after covering all of my hibiscus and mango tree, I ran out of sheets and tarps! However, it pulled through our cold snap without any visible damage and no leaf drop, so they seem to be very hardy. It dipped into the upper 20's here, since I'm on the border of the 9b/10a zone. We had a rain with the front, and the water that accumulated on stuff in my back yard actually froze, and we had frozen grass and frozen water on our cars. I'd never seen it like this! Fortunately my christmas lights saved my mango, hibiscus, and even my papaya (I strung it upward all the way to the top; looked like a S. FL Christmas tree!). I will pinch off each bud and see what happens. Thanks for the information, and yes, I will clean up as I know the toxicity of the oleander!

what a winter, huh? lol

your plants look none the worse for wear!

Thanks! Yeah I hope not to see another one like this. I don't mind the cool weather, having had my a/c off for 2 months now (take that FPL!), but I could do without sub 30, even sub 40, temperatures.

we're in for more thurs and fri morning......i am getting really tired of this......

Yeah it's supposed to get back into the upper 40's for us, but that probably doesn't touch your temps! I'm just glad I don't have to cover anything. Will you have to?

yes. i don't have to cover near as much. i lost a lot of plants this winter but i have babies coming up, so i do want to cover those. they're talking 31 friday morning with chills in the 20's......sigh

My forecast is a low of 37 with windchill close to freezing. We have a freeze warning, but I don't think I'll have to cover the plants. I do have to paint my house this weekend. I'll never live under an HOA every again...

this weekend will be too cold to paint!

I have no choice. The HOA gave me a deadline of end of this month before they reported me to the city. I bought the house as a foreclosure in June '07 and they had been sending letters to the bank out in California who owned the house before I purchased it instead of sending them to me. The letters were to notify me that I needed to paint my house - it didn't look that bad to me - but they just recently noticed their error and sent me a final warning. Sound fair, huh. Did I mention I hate HOAs?

lol

Sorry for the butting in part of this thread but...

I was researching HOAs and was extremely surprised at how many people hate them. We've been looking to move to SC in a couple of years and are surprised (again) at how many HOAs are in the Charleston area. Seems to me, IMHO, they are run by people who have nothing better to do with their time. Grrr... Any chance you could have them disbanded? If you get enough people in the area to agree, you can.

Unfortunately it is very difficult to rid a community of an HOA, and it requires much legal work, 98% vote (good luck getting that), and other arduous and expensive processes. I'll be up on a ladder with a paint sprayer, a roller, and some buddies lol...

kwanjin, I had to smile at your statement about getting HOAs disbanded. Having lived in SC for the past 46 years I can assure you HOA's are a way of life but thankfully, there are many beautiful areas without them. I have never heard of one being disbanded. How strict they are pretty much depends on the neighborhood covenants that were put in place early on. You are correct in thinking many are run by people with too much time on their hands though. People can be voted out of office but deed restrictions can't be changed easily - if at all.

Hope your housepainting went well Grantman.

I hope the painting went well, too. Sad to hear they are so difficult to have disbanded.

I am a bit naive about the HOAs. Aren't there set limits on how much they can tell you to do? Or not do? And the cost? I've seen where some are within reason for what is done and others are outrageously expensive.

Thanks everyone. The painting went well! Just a little more trim painting to go after work today; but other than that, the house is done! I need to put up the new lighting fixtures as well, but those will be quick.

My HOA can tell you how many pets you can own, what colors you can or can't paint your house, where you can and can't park your car and at what times of the night, how tall your hedges can be, how managed your landscaping must be (of which I am meticulous anyways), what type and size of outdoor storage closet you can have, the type and size of screening enclosure/awning you can have, etc. etc....must I go on? They told me I needed to paint my house and gave me a deadline. You can only extend deadlines so far before they report you to the city. They don't care how expensive it is they just want it done. They also sent me a letter about cleaning my roof last year. I pressure cleaned it, but I think many of their requests are ridiculous. But I guess to keep up the community, some people need to be forced to do things.

Wow...That's a little too invasive for me. Thanks for the info.

No problem. If you need any other dissuading from living under an HOA, please let me know :)

LOL Thanks but I have enough people telling me what to do. I don't need it at home, too. ^_^

Grantman: So the HOA reports you to the city, what would the city do about it? I understand your pain since all of the new Grand Strand residentual areas are under HOA's. Lots of complaints.

They could force me to comply by placing a lien on the property should I not comply with their request. In the most protracted scenario, they could effectively get me evicted from my home and perform a "Sheriff Auction" where the house is sold off. Now I would never let it get to such an escalated state, but the HOA has the right to enforce these things and have the power to make you very miserable.

Hi Grantman.. Sounds like winter has brought you tons of fun! Grin.

There was an HOA here that disbanded the year before we moved into our home....Their rules weren't too stringent from what I gather, and were really probably only enforced in drastic situations, but they disbanded in the black....the vice presidents pit bull killed the President's poodle at the annual HOA barbeque....tensions ran high and over the next couple weeks a house went up for sale, a couple separated, two or three fences went up and Mrs. Lillian agreed to hold the bank balance of a couple hundred dollars....dues notices were to have gone out the Monday after the barbeque..... the decision was made to refrain from electing new officers at the barbeque....and the HOA disbanded by a unanimous vote.grin

Jean/Moon

This probably is not suppose to be funny-------------but, is the moral of the story Grantman should buy a pit bull ? I just loved this.

No, just give one to the HOA members....grin I did think the story was just hysterically funny in a Peyton Place sort of way....

Haha thanks for the story. That sure brightened things up! The house painting went well and it looks great! I am replacing my front door (because it needs to be, not because they asked me to), and I am making a winding gravel/stepping stone path around my landscaping to my right side gate (because they don't allow anything permanent, such as pavers, concrete, etc.). Lots of fun lately!

Ah the joys of homeownership cluttered by HOAs.....grin

You said it Jean! I about broke my back with the 6 hours of excavating 4" of soil in a 35' X 4' area including bends and a turn. I'm using plastic landscape edging (the type that gets staked, commercial grade) for the edging work, builders sand for drainage, crushed marble for filler, and some preformed irregularly-shaped stepping stones. I'm hoping to finish it within the next couple of days and will post some pics!

Cool! Looking forward to it. seems my list of projects just keeps growing....we call our garden list the Medusa file...for every completed task, seems seven more spring up....grin

And every time you look at the list, you have this strange urge to go out and buy some stone :)

Yup...and a six pack....grin hey, check your D-mail.

Well it's been blooming strong for a couple weeks now! Here's a pic I took on my phone this morning.

It just needed to know it was loved.....Grin. Your oleanders look great.

Thanks! Plucking the cold-damaged buds encouraged new growth and did the trick.