Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Friday - November 11, 2005
From: Kingman, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Propagation of non-native, poisonous oleanders
Answered by: Joe Marcus
QUESTION:
How do I propagate oleanders? Can the cuttings be rooted in water? Or is it better to use rooting hormone and stick the cuttings in the soil?ANSWER:
Our area of study and expertise at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is limited to native North American plant species. Oleander, Nerium oleander is a native of the eastern Mediterranean, northern Africa and southeastern Asia. The beautiful, but extremely poisonous evergreen shrub has been planted widely in the tropical and sub-tropical parts of the United States for many years.
If you wish to propagate your oleander, you should take care not to ingest or otherwise expose yourself to the sap of the plant. All parts very poisonous; even exposure to smoke from burning oleander is harmful. A single leaf ingested by a small child can be fatal and there are many cases of oleander poisoning when branches were used to spear food for grilling.
Nerium oleander is best propagated by stem cuttings, but layering and seed propagation are also useful. Oleander stem cuttings can be easily rooted in water. Here is a well written article on Stem Cutting Propagation, published by North Carolina State University. Finally, an excellent resource on oleander culture is the website of the International Oleander Society.
More Non-Natives Questions
Getting rid of invasive, non-native Ailanthus altissimma, Tree of Heaven
July 21, 2008 - We live in Granite, MD and are trying to get rid of an invasive "tree of heaven". Based on a recommendation from a website dedicated to eradicating invasive plants,my husband cut down the tree which...
view the full question and answer
Problems with non-native zucchini in Muskogee, OK
July 23, 2011 - In the awful heat of this summer I am still getting zucchini to produce. But, once it grows about 3 inches, it gets yellow on the ends and dies. Am I watering it too much? (I have sprayed for bugs ...
view the full question and answer
Decline of non-native Star Jasmine in California
June 30, 2008 - We just had 2 trachelospermum jasminoides planted in a redwood planter box about a month ago. We can't figure out if we are watering too much or too little but some leaves are turning yellow and the...
view the full question and answer
Is my Crimson queen maple dying?
October 20, 2015 - Is my Crimson queen maple dying if it's leaves are turning brown?
view the full question and answer
Aging non-native weeping willow in Ohio
June 11, 2008 - We had a weeping willow now for about 15 years and it was doing fine until this summer. It has new branches sort of but a lot of the older ones are dying. There are leaves of course and they are sti...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |