Oleander
Nerium oleander
A fast, tough evergreen with showy flowers in pink, red, peach or white from late spring through summer, thriving in heat, drought, salt spray and wind, and deer leave it alone. It makes a quick screen in mild-winter and coastal gardens. Every part is highly poisonous, and its smoke is harmful, so never burn it.
- Mature size
- 10 × 8 ft
- 3 × 2.4 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 8a–10b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Dry to medium
- Blooms
- May–Oct
Oleander at its mature size
A mature Oleander grows 8 to 18 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, Clemson Extension, UF/IFAS Extension.
Through the year
What Oleander looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
In leaf · Nov–Apr
Narrow leathery dark green leaves, no flowers.
In flower · May–Oct
Narrow dark leaves with clusters of pink flowers.
Photos
Growing Oleander
- Grows well in
- The desert Southwest, California, the Plains and Mountain West, and the Southeast.
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Good for
- Privacy screen, hedge, foundation planting, drought tolerant, deer resistant, and fast growing
- Leaves
- Evergreen
- Native to
- Mediterranean and Southwest Asia
Spacing for a hedge
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Oleander, that’s about 8 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Oleander in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.