Nerium oleander 'Alsace'

The 'Alsace' Oleander is a descendant of Nerium oleander, a vigorous evergreen bush emblematic of Mediterranean gardens. This particularly flowering variety blossoms single flowers, a delicate and fresh rose white, continuously from June to October if the soil remains cool. They are grouped in generous bouquets, highlighted by an elegant dark green leaf, attractive even outside the flowering period. Low maintenance, easy to grow in any drained soil, resistant to sea spray as well as drought, its only weak point is its quite poor hardiness, particularly in its early years. Its cultivation in the ground is to be reserved for regions that do not experience very cold winters. It composes large elegant and multicoloured hedges in association with other varieties and is imposing in a large pot on the terrace, the balcony, or even in a small garden during the entire beautiful season.

The numerous Oleander cultivars available on the horticultural market are most often hybrids between Nerium oleander subsp. oleander, spontaneous around the Mediterranean, and Nerium oleander subsp. indicum, highly fragrant, spontaneous from Iran to China. Their flowers are single, double, even triple and decline an almost infinite palette of tones, from white to pink through yellow and salmon, red, and even purple. Only the blue hue is absent.

Nerium oleander is an evergreen bush of the Apocynaceae family, just like periwinkles or false jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). 'Alsace' naturally forms a bush with a dense and bushy habit, ramified near the base, multi-stemmed, with an overall rounded habit. Vigorous, it will reach an average ripeness of 3.50m in height for 3m (9 ft 10 in) in spread, for a rapid growth. Its flexible branches, covered with a grey bark, carry long evergreen leaves, thick and tough, a bit bluish-green with a lighter reverse. They measure 10 to 15cm (3.9 to 5.9 in) in length for 3cm (1.2 in) in width. In case of intense drought, Nerium loses some of its leaves, the oldest ones, those located towards the base of the stems. The flowering takes place in spring then again from the end of summer to autumn or continuously from spring to autumn depending on the climate, for 4 to 5 months in cool soil. The flowers consist of a tube flaring into 5 bright rose white petals and neighbour with thin and turbinate buds. They are gathered in corymbs, mainly in the terminal part of the branches aged 1 or 2 years. This flowering, nectariferous and melliferous, is followed by the formation of long reddish pods that burst at ripeness, releasing a multitude of small seeds provided with a bunch of white bristles, disseminated by the wind. Be careful not to prune the Oleander too severely: only the stems that have reached a certain length bear flowers!

Symbol of resistance and generosity, Nerium oleander is an excellent hedge plant by the sea but also a magnificent specimen to plant isolated in a warm situation. Hardy up to -8/-10°C (17.6/14 °F) once well established, it will grow without problem in any ordinary but drained soil. It can also be used as a hedge, by regularly pruning it, associated with other evergreen bushes such as Laurustinus, Elaeagnus ebbingei, Mexican Orange, myrtles, Pittosporum tobira and even Grevillea. In a mild climate, it can be led as a small tree, by initially selecting the most beautiful stem that will be brought up to 1.50m or 2m (164 or 6 ft 7 in) from the ground before letting it ramify. The specimens thus obtained are particularly ornamental, but require a very mild winter that will not risk cutting them back to the ground: it would be a pity if a severe frost wiped out several years of work in a few hours! On the terrace, it will reign in a large pot, in the company of citrus trees, Grevillea and Oleanders. This method of cultivation allows the tree to be stored in a very bright, cool but frost-free room, in our very cold regions.

The genus name, Nerium, would come from its old Greek name, Nerion, derived from Nereus, a sea god of Greek mythology. Another interpretation would link Nerium to neros, which means wet in Greek. The liquid element, underlying in these two interpretations, is probably explained by the fact that the wild Oleander never grows very far from the water. Its long roots anchor deeply in the soil to draw freshness, even on the sides of throats or in the bed of dried-up rivers. Proof of its incredible resistance to drought, in arid regions like the Negev in Israel or the south of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas, Nerium oleander is one of the only bushes along with Acacia and Retama (a kind of broom) able to face the desert, anchored in the walls of ravines.