summertime visitant to the North Carolina coast may receive themselves enchanted by drifting banks of blooming oleander ( Nerium oleander ) shrubs that are mutual in the region ’s landscapes . The city of Wilmington even name one of its main thoroughfares " Oleander Drive . " These shrubs are humble - alimony garden plants that feature evergreen foliage , bright coloured blooms and a refined wont . Where they can be grown across eastern North Carolina is limited only by the extent of winter freeze .
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oleander are stalwart across U.S. Department of Agriculture industrial plant hardiness zona 8 to 11 . Members of the Nerium oleander metal money are aboriginal to the Mediterranean , Middle East and western Asia . They have been extensively hybridized and are grown wide across the southeast U.S. They generally rank in size from 6 to 12 feet marvellous and wide but may reach out 20 feet grandiloquent in some example . midget cultivars are also available that only achieve 3 feet grandiloquent and across-the-board . Bloom colors include pinkish , coral , orange , red , lily-white and chicken . Double - flowered forms are often highly fragrant .
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Culture
Oleanders prefer growing in full sunshine and will boom in the summertime heat of eastern North Carolina . They permit salty stain and drouth , although supplementary waterings during ironic menstruation in their first season will help ensure they become well - establish . Plant oleanders in early spring or crepuscule . They are not very fussy about soil pH or structure , but do best in well - run out , flaxen to loamy soils with crushed to restrained organic cognitive content . They can be left to their own gimmick or pruned for form and social organization . To maintain configuration , prune rose bay lightly in early natural spring before flower buds come out and again in tumble before winter quiescency . you could also prune overgrown or lanky oleander fairly hard after the initial florescence period in other summer to regenerate them and ensure their size .
North Carolina Ranges
Nerium oleander are specially well - fit to North Carolina ’s coastal regions but can be grown as far west as Raleigh and northward to Elizabeth City . The dispirited winter temperature most oleander will tolerate is 20 degrees Fahrenheit without serious damage or death . In the coldest regions of their image , they may immobilise to ground level during wintertime but recover when temperatures warm in bounce . If you survive in a transitional , easterly North Carolina mood zone where occasional , deep winter freezes occur , mulch oleander heavily in autumn to palliate freeze impairment to roots .
Precautions and Pests
All parts of oleander plant life are poisonous to some stage . Foraging animate being can become ill if they ingest bloom or leave . darling and tike should be kept from assimilate any plant parts . Some people are also sensitive to oleander sap , developing link dermatitis after photo . Do not burn oleander encounter as the sens can irritate respiratory passageways in sensible person . Few pest are attracted to oleanders but some mintage of caterpillars , aphids and mealybugs will munch on the foliage and bloom . Damage from these blighter is ordinarily special and minimal control measures may be necessary .
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