NERIUM oleander “Maria Gambetta”

Interessant evergreen compact shrub, spontaneously growing in the East Mediterranean basin. With a quite quick growth, it can easily reach an height of 3-4 metres and almost the same in with. Strongly branched even from the base, it has erect and woody stems at the bottom. On the contrary, on the top, they are herbaceous and arched outwards, in order to give the bush a wide shape. Leaves are poisonous as any part of the plant, they are also opposite, lance-shaped, leathery, with an entire margin and a showy central nervation. The color is deep green in the upper page and lighter in the lower one. From late spring to the start of autumn, the plant produce a lot of showy inflorescences near the axil of the apical leaves. These inflorescences are characterized by big funnel-shaped flowers of different color (white, yellow, pink, fuchsia, purple, red) and shape (simple or double) and sometimes even deeply fragrant. There are also variegated shapes with a white & cream-streaked foliage, and other so-called "dwarf" shapes having a slower growth and smaller sizes, due to their equally smaller leaves and shorter internodes.

It needs a sunny or semi shaded position, in this last case the plant grows anyway but its blooming will be less abundant. It is suitable to any kind of soil even if it prefers the medium texture and the well drained ones. Even if this plant tolerates drought, in summer periodical irrigations make its blooming richer and more lasting. It tolerates salt and so it is ideal for realizations or renovations in coastal gardens. It tolerates winter frosts if they are not intense and lasting. in spring, it can be pruned by shortening the longest branches and removing dried and damaged parts in order to give the plant a more ordered aspect and to stimulate a richer next blooming. It can be grown in big containers which will be periodically replaced, but it can also be grown in full ground as single specimen to give colour to the garde, as evergreen border or as small tree with a very colorful foliage