Oleander ‘Petite White’ belongs to the Apocynaceae family and derives from the botanical species Nerium oleander. This cultivar is sometimes sold under the names Nerium oleander ‘Petite White’, Nerium oleander ‘Dwarf White’ or Nerium oleander ‘Little White’. Some nurseries offer varieties 'Isabelle', 'Isabelle Petite White'. Lacking a distinct description, these last two names are generally considered to refer to the same cultivar.
The botanical species is native to a vast area stretching from the Mediterranean basin and North Africa to the Near East, the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent and southern China; in the wild, it is found mainly along wadis, riverbeds and alluvial valleys, where it tolerates both long periods of drought and winter floods.
The horticultural group "Petite" corresponds to particularly gloriferous oleanders with reduced growth; the cultivars ‘Petite Pink’ and ‘Petite Salmon’ are well-documented: they are genetic dwarfs originating from plants collected in Kenya in the late 1960s, then introduced and distributed by the Los Angeles State and County Arboretum under the names ‘Dwarf Pink’ and ‘Dwarf Salmon’, before taking the name "Petite" in commerce. ‘Petite White’ is generally included in this series, even though its history has not been published as precisely.
‘Petite White’ forms a bushy, rounded shrub, branched from the base. In the ground, it reaches 1.20 m to 1.50 m in height, with a comparable spread, after a few years. In a mild climate and rich soil, it can become taller (1.80 m to 2 m), without ever reaching the size of large classic oleanders. In a container, the plant remains more compact, around 0.80 to 1.20 m, if regularly pruned.
The foliage is evergreen in winter. The leaves, smaller than those of large cultivars, are narrow, lanceolate, thick and leathery, arranged in pairs or threes around the twigs. They measure 6 to 8 cm long by 1 to 1.5 cm wide. They are dark green, slightly glossy on the upper side, lighter on the reverse, with a well-marked central vein.
The flowering is the main asset of Nerium ‘Petite White’. From May-June until September-October, the shrub is covered with clusters of single flowers borne at the ends of the current year's twigs. Each flower consists of a funnel-shaped tube opening into a corolla with five rounded lobes, about 3 to 4 cm in diameter; at the heart of the corolla, a small fringed crown surrounds the floral organs. In ‘Petite White’, the petals are pure white, the throat a very pale yellow. When the soil is too dry in summer, flowering ceases. The fruits are long, narrow pods (follicles) 10 to 20 cm long, which open when ripe in summer or autumn to release numerous small seeds equipped with a tuft of silky hairs, allowing wind dispersal. The stems are initially green, thick and smooth, then become covered with a greyish bark with age.
The entire plant is toxic if ingested. If damaged, the branches exude a latex which can be irritating.
Nerium ‘Petite White’ can be used in low hedges, in shrub borders or in a large pot on a sunny terrace, to be overwintered like a citrus tree in cold regions. Its cultivation in the ground is only possible in mild climates. You can associate it with Oleander ‘Angiolo Pucci’, ivory yellow, and 'Soleil Levant' of a bright salmon pink. Nearby, a Callistemon rigidus will raise its silhouette topped with bright red bottlebrushes and ceanothus ‘Burkwoodii’ will evoke an all-blue cloud in summer. Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata), with its glossy foliage and fragrant white flowers, naturally finds its place in this Mediterranean atmosphere, near a passageway where one can enjoy both the scents and the staggered flowering from spring to summer. On the terrace, it forms a beautiful association with blue agapanthus such as ‘Blue Velvet’.
Oleander carries a strong symbolic charge: it was chosen as the emblematic flower of the city of Hiroshima, Japan, because it was the first plant to reflower on the scorched earth after the atomic bomb explosion in 1945, becoming a symbol of resistance and rebirth.
