I'm not a proper gardener (just a tidier), but in my humble opinion the Oleander is the most evocative plant/flower of Southern France.
I never know the names of plants (except for a few), and always refer to them as 'that red thing by the studio door' or 'the one in the big pot by the pool'; etc. But I do know my Oleanders.
I'm sure I remember this Oleander being much redder than it looks this year. I'm sure I can remember buying it because it was blood red, and not the pink colour it seems to have become.
Anyway, it still looks pretty good, and will continue flowering well into autumn.
I dare not mention to the children that it's one of the most poisonous plants around. They'd be bound to test it.
Your flowers are so beautiful! I love the first photo. As for the poisonous flowers...probably you're right, the less said the better!
ReplyDeleteEverything has blossomed this year. Yes, there's nothing more interesting to small boys than poisons, bombs, etc.
DeleteYour oleander is pretty, whether red or more pink. They are toxic, tis true, but many garden plants are.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it was deep red before.
DeleteHaven't got any Oleander in our garden, might have to put it on my wish list especially if it flowers into the autumn.
ReplyDeleteThey're beautiful plants; I prefer them red to white.
DeleteOleanders do very well here and they don't mind the dry. We used to tease my grandmother by pretending to eat the leaves.
ReplyDeleteI should think your climate is perfect for them. We lose some occasionally to frost.
DeleteThe oleanders are indeed lovely, but I'm more partial to the orange tiger lily next to it. What a pleasing entryway you have!
ReplyDeleteI think we have rather too many of those lilies; they spread like crazy. The steps lead up to our covered terrace, where we eat throughout the summer.
DeleteThat garden looks wonderful. Maybe the oleander has faded in the sun. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame they are poisonous; you're right the least said the better.
Alphie
I suspect it's my memory that has faded in the sun! C'est la vie.
DeleteIt is looking good. I had oleanders when in the Far North but none now. It looks as though you also have the ladder fern that I spent months eradicating.
ReplyDeleteThere's a Rosemary to the right of the steps, and a box type plant on the left in amongst the lilies; are either of those that look like your fern?
DeleteIt's on the left so must be the "box type plant" . Much better.
DeleteRight. It's not actually a Box but looks, and trims, the same.
DeleteI can't imagine ever growing an Oleander here but lilies thrive.
ReplyDeleteLilies will grow well almost anywhere. The Oleanders do require warmth, and not too cold winters.
DeleteYour garden looks so pretty Cro ... a little bit of the English cottage garden about it. Oleanders won't grow in our garden ..... it's too wet and too shady. I actually prefer them in hot climates like yours... they seem to fit in better to me. XXXX
ReplyDeleteIt's very much a cottage garden. Lots of foliage, simple flowers, and the essential veg' patch.
DeleteThat entrance to the terrace looks so inviting...and don't some flowers change colour depending on the soil sometimes?
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to wonder, because we transplanted it from somewhere less suitable.
DeleteYour garden is so green and colourful. Just how I like them. The rosemary makes a fragrant border.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting under a huge oleander yesterday. I should plant a few. They get a bit scruffy but seem to last forever. The roadsides along one of our main roads have been planted in different coloured oleanders and are a pleasure to drive by when theyre all in colour.
The previous owner of our place planted geraniums all over the place. They too last forever, don't need much water but get scruffy very quickly.
I think when they get to that scruffy stage, you just cut them back and they grow again.
DeleteBe careful with the children not to tuch their eyes after tuching the oleander, that was i was told here, we have a lot here.
ReplyDeleteAnd not to put dead branches on the bonfire, as the smoke is also poisonous.
DeleteOleander leaves and flowers often fade when they need fertilising. They are a hardy plant for soil types but eventually they do need it. A liquid feed away from the root base is best. Too much fertiliser close to the roots burns them. You might well find you get darker flowers and glossier leaves next time. Try and fertilise late autumn when the uptake slows down for winter that way absorption will be more gradual. Hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteThat's really helpful; thanks. I shall certainly follow your advice. It'll be interesting to see if the flowers darken.
DeleteCould it be that the ph of the soil has somewhat changed the colour Cro?
ReplyDeleteThat's a bit technical for me, but I know what you mean. It could well be so.
Delete"I dare not mention to the children that it's one of the most poisonous plants around."
ReplyDeleteYou, Cro, are more benign than my forebears, aunts and uncles. The first time I was taken mushroom foraging in damp woodlands the living fear of what may befall me, and anyone I might offer my bounty, in an ill judged moment of rich pickings made me, not so much paranoid, as erring on side of caution. And that was after I'd already encountered the evil of many a fairy tale, namely that red menace of a mushroom, the one with the white dots on (its name escapes me this minute).
And then there is foxglove, a most alluring plant. Think Digitalis. Dear Cro, there is a reason witches throw plant matter into their cauldrom,adding to a stock of frogs and adders.
May your grandsons live another day.
U
On the principal that if you tell a small boy not to touch something because it's very hot, the first thing he'll do is touch it. With mushrooms I've shown them the ones we eat, and told them not to touch any others; so far so good.
DeleteHow beautiful your garden grows! I used to know all my plants by both their Latin and English names, but like you, I now mostly refer to them by their color and placement.
ReplyDeleteMy late mother was the same, she also knew all the different local names. I've said many times that it's a shame she didn't write it all down.
DeleteMy husband is muttering the same thing about his lilies. He's convinced the white one used to be purple!
ReplyDeleteI'm just happy my Peony plant has surfaced. It's been MIA for the last three summers.
I miss Hydrangias in the garden but it's too cold for them here.
My 'greens' are all blue at Haddock's, and my red Oleanders have turned pink. I suspect a conspiracy.
DeleteAll looking gorgeous and lush.
ReplyDeleteJean