Oleander

I see Oleander sold often around here. Any ideas if it could be invasive or not? It is an attractive shrub.

Not sure about invasiveness, but one thing to watch out for, it is VERY poisonous

Resin

I've never seen any volunteer oleander seedlings during my travels, but I don't live down there among them so I could have missed the problem.

Guy S.

We had oleander when I lived in Savannah. I did not find them to be invasive. They are relatively low care, and grow quickly. However, the branches, leaves, and flowers are poisonous, so be careful if you have small children or animals that put everything in their mouths.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/map/neol1.htm

It's not all that popular yet, probably because it is so toxic. It was all over Hawaii.

Oleaners are one of the most common shrubs along the Gulf Coast (or used to be, at least BK). They take every kind of abuse including deluges, droughts, wind, etc. Some of them can be stunningly beautiful in and out of bloom. There are numerous ones that are only hardy to zone 9, and others that might be able to make it in the warmer parts of zone 7 given optimum siting. I have some variegated ones that die back to the ground every year and others that suffer minor freeze damage except in the coldest cold snaps. But, they are rapid growers that look fine by summer.

I had never seen volunteers in all my years in Houston

This message was edited Mar 14, 2006 10:37 AM

The spot I was thinking of putting one (by a ditch) stays a little wet after rains. Would one grow in semi-wet soil or do they have to have very good drainage? I would like to try to use it for screening.

I have two, and they are both suckering right now, so yes - in the right setting, they could be considered invasive.

I went into my basement, where I keep them over winter, and I had seeds EVERYWHERE. Apparently the seed pods burst just as the furnace kicked on, because they were in all my plants.

None have germinated, but the seeds are paper-thin and blow around - just something to be aware of.

Oleander is very popular in our area, and they over winter except in the very cold ones we get once in awhile. We caution young families about having them because of their toxicity. I have not heard any discussion about their being invasive here.

Dirr says it prefers well drained soil and is drought tolerant and then says "supposedly withstands marshy soils". Here in NC they are most prevalent at the coast where they grow well in sand and are salt tolerant but there are cultivars that do well inland.

I've been looking for oleander for a soft dust & privacy screen/boundary planting where we park (soft so when a car bumps it, there is no dent in the car) and no one near me sells it. It's a popular CA highway shrub, so I may have to lurk in the median of I-5 or 101 one night to get some.

In Bullhead City, Arizona it bloomed all the time despite the heat and lack of water. It does need good drainage, and it can be invasive, but my understanding it was via the roots, not by seeds out in the open, so it can be contained with a barrier. It can be very hard to remove. It is poisonous (as many things are) - the oils may be irritating to skin, so gloves are advised when handling. I've also read that the smoke from burning cuttings can be harmful.

E guy, do you really want this plant enough to overcome all the negatives listed in most every response? Seems like there much more minus than plus described here. Ken

Lots of plants have negatives, Ken. I like this plant, despite it's negatives, which can be overcome with thought and care. IMHO it's pretty and useful - in the right place. :-)

I was mostly considering using it for screening. I can't have anything too tall because of powerlines. It will be about 250ft from my house (away from people or pets) so the poison is not a concern. I can deal with it suckering from the roots, just as long as it doesn't reseed everywhere. Right now I have a VERY large ligustrum lucidum in that location that I wanting to cut down. However I need to get something else growing first so the area doesn't look so bare after I cut it.

This is a good plant. They take our winters just fine and at least in our area they do not spread by the roots. The clump will get bigger but working with 30 year old plus specimens at the city park we trim them up but they have never had the plants spread out to form now plants. They are toxic but like it is said no more then a lot of other plants in our gardens just something to note.

My 2 cents Mitch