Oleander in zone 7?
Question:I bought some Oleander about two years ago and the first year it did great. The second year it didnt even come out of the ground and this the third year it is about 3 feet tall with only 2 shoots showing. No blooms as of yet but the Live Nursery Specialist at my local Lowes says it should bloom by the end of the summer. Does anyone have any Oleander blooming in zone 7 yet that has not been planted this season?
Answers:
Oleander is not intended to survive winters in Zone 7 (temperatures below 10 degrees for several consecutive days). It's amazing that yours has lived this long! It is a Zone 8+ plant. I am in central Oklahoma, Zone 7.
You might try assuring your oleander is in a sheltered place (the south side of your home, near a wall) and mulch it heavily with leaves and bark. Another option is to bring it indoors in the winter and put it in a sunroom, but then they suffer from spider mites. (By the way, oleander--the entire plant--is considered poisonous.)
Read more about oleanders (including how to take cuttings and grow them!) at http://www.oleander.org/culture.html.
A pretty Zone 7 alternative to oleander is crape myrtle http://mountainmeadowseeds.com/seeds/lag... It is a Zone 7 favorite.
It will bloom, but you should never ever plant oleander.
It always looks tacky and it is toxic.
Zone 7 is about as cold as it will go. Could be your plants were killed back hard 2 years ago and having to start all over again.
Another concern is oleander is undergoing a die out due to OLS, oleander leaf scorch, a bacteria spread by a sharpshooter.insect. No cure. It is devastating parts of the SW. I assume, you being zone 7, are not part of the blighted area.
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