Oleander

I drew the oleander because no other plant furnishes the Mediterranean summer so completely. It lines motorways and fills the central reservations of roads from Spain to Turkey and Lebanon, and it keeps flowering through heat, drought, exhaust and salt air. Most people who have spent a summer there have driven past millions of oleanders without registering one. This oleander print makes a single branch visible: long, dark, leathery leaves and a cluster of pink flowers at the tip.

In shortNerium oleander is an evergreen shrub native from the Mediterranean to western China. It is one of the toughest ornamental plants in cultivation, and it is highly toxic in every part. The plate shows one branch with leaves and a full cluster of open flowers.

Key Facts

Is oleander poisonous?

Yes. Oleander is highly toxic, and every part of the plant is dangerous: leaves, flowers, sap, seeds and nectar. Smoke from burning it is harmful as well, so cuttings and pruned branches should never go on a fire. The Royal Horticultural Society advises gloves for handling and warns that the plant is toxic to pets if eaten.

The danger comes from cardiac glycosides, compounds that act on the heart. Foxglove carries related ones. Oleander has been recognised as poisonous since classical times, and Dioscorides, Pliny and Galen all described its dangers. None of this has stopped people from planting it. It simply means that the plant belongs in the garden, on the verge and on the wall, and never in the kitchen or the fire.

Why is oleander planted along roads and motorways?

Oleander is planted along roads because it survives almost everything a road can do to a plant. It tolerates heat, drought, poor soil, salt air and exhaust fumes, and it still flowers. Once established it needs very little water.

The evergreen leaves keep a planting green through the year, and the flowers open from summer into autumn, when many shrubs have stopped. That toughness is the natural habit of the plant. In the wild it colonises dry river beds and scrubland, ground that floods in one season and bakes in the next. It now lines roads in Mediterranean countries, California and the Middle East.

Where does oleander grow best?

Oleander grows best in full sun, in a warm and sheltered position with free-draining soil. It is hardy in USDA zones 8 to 11. The Royal Horticultural Society rates it H3 for the UK, which means hardy on the coast and in mild districts but not through a hard frost.

Once established it is drought resistant and needs very little water. In cooler countries it is often grown in a large pot and moved under cover for the winter. It tolerates hard pruning. That mix of sun, shelter and dryness is the Mediterranean summer in a list of conditions.

What do oleander leaves and flowers look like?

Oleander has long, narrow, leathery evergreen leaves and flowers with five petals. The leaves are dark green above and paler beneath, and they grow in whorls of three along the stem. They stay on the shrub all year.

The flowers are 3 to 4 cm across and sit in clusters at the ends of the branches. Wild and garden forms come in pink, white and red, and cultivated forms add salmon and yellow, including double flowers. Looked at closely, each flower has a complex throat and a slight fringe on its outer petals. A mature shrub often stands 2 to 6 m tall, though in cooler countries it is usually kept nearer 1.5 to 2.5 m.

How long has oleander been grown in gardens?

People have grown oleander since antiquity. It appears in Pompeian frescoes and in ancient Egyptian garden records, and it became a fixture of Islamic garden design. Its natural range runs from Morocco and Iberia across to western China, a belt that follows the old dry zone of the Old World. Its long record in gardens shows that it was chosen on purpose, not tolerated.

The plant has collected as many stories as it has gardens. The history of oleander follows it from ancient courtyards to modern roadsides.

Drawing the oleander

The plate shows one branch in leaf, with a full cluster of open deep pink flowers at its tip. I kept leaves and flowers together because the two define the plant: dark, narrow, leathery blades beside the soft colour of the petals.

The flowers are drawn open, which shows what a closed bud hides. Each one has a complex throat and a slight fringe on the outer petals, details that vanish in a glance from a passing car. The branch itself is long and dark, and it carries the cluster at its end. The leaves stay narrow and tapering, so the eye moves along them to the flowers.

Oleander is easy to overlook because it is everywhere. A single drawn branch gives it a stillness that a roadside verge never offers. The hand-drawn digital illustration lets the eye stay on one flower long enough to read its structure.

Where does an oleander print work on a wall?

The deep green of the leaves and the pink of the flowers read cleanly against white plaster, warm terracotta and natural wood. The plate suits a kitchen, a living room, a sunroom or a home office, and any interior that carries the warmth and light of the Mediterranean south. A pale wood or dark iron frame gives it the feel of a southern garden wall, while a white frame is fresher and more botanical. It belongs to the Mediterranean Table collection and to The Garden collection. In the photograph below, it hangs in a home office beside the oak and jade plant plates.

Fine-art print →

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is oleander native?

Oleander is native from the Mediterranean region, including Morocco and Iberia, across to western China. It grows wild along dry river beds and in scrubland. It is not native to Britain or Ireland, where it is kept as a shrub for sheltered, frost-free spots in full sun.

What colour are oleander flowers?

Pink, white and red are the usual colours. Cultivated forms add salmon and yellow, and some have double flowers. The flowers are salver-shaped, 3 to 4 cm across, and open in terminal clusters through summer.

How tall does an oleander grow?

In warm climates a mature shrub often reaches 2 to 6 m. In cooler countries it is usually kept smaller, around 1.5 to 2.5 m tall and 1 to 1.5 m wide. It tolerates hard pruning, and dwarf forms stay much lower.

Is oleander the same as rose bay?

Rose bay is an older English name sometimes used for oleander. It is also shared by unrelated plants, such as rosebay willowherb and some rhododendrons. The botanical name, Nerium oleander, is the safe guide to which plant is meant.

How is this print made, and how does it reach me?

There are two formats. The digital download is a high-resolution file that you print yourself, at home or at a print shop; no physical item is shipped. The fine-art print is printed to order on archival paper or canvas, framed or unframed, in sizes from small prints to over 150 cm (60 inches), and delivered to your door.