Nerium oleander Marie Gambetta

The 'Marie Gambetta' Oleander, Nerium oleander in Latin, is a variety with bright single pale yellow flowers, with a bud and throat of a darker yellow. They appear in abundance from summer to autumn if the plant does not lack light or water. It is a bush for mild climates, hardy down to -9 ºC. It forms a compact, medium-sized bush, ornamental with its dense, bluish-green, leathery, narrow and elongated foliage which offers permanent decor for the garden. In colder regions, grow it in a pot on a veranda or terrace, to store in a frost-free room during the winter. Resistant to drought and sea spray, it is an excellent background plant for flower beds and hedges in Mediterranean, urban and seaside gardens! While not demanding in terms of soil, nevertheless provide it with rich, well-drained soil, not too dry, that remains moist during the first few summers after planting.

The numerous cultivars of oleander available on the horticultural market are most often hybrids between Nerium oleander subsp. oleander, spontaneous around the Mediterranean, and Nerium oleander subsp. indicum, very fragrant, spontaneous from Iran to China. They offer an almost infinite palette of shades, from white to pink, yellow and salmon, red, and even purple. Only the blue shade is missing.

Nerium oleander is an evergreen bush from the Apocynaceae family, like periwinkles or false jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides). The cultivar 'Marie Gambetta' is particularly floriferous. It is naturally compact and bushy, ramified near the base, multi-stemmed, with an overall rounded habit. It will reach on average 3 m (10 ft) in height and 1.5 m (5 ft) in spread at maturity, with rapid growth. Its flexible branches, covered with grey bark, bear long evergreen leaves, thick and leathery, with a slightly bluish green on their lighter underside. They measure 10 to 15cm (4 to 6 in) in length by 3cm (1.2 in) in width. In the case of intense drought Nerium loses some of its oldest leaves, those located towards the base of the stems. Flowering occurs in spring and then again from late summer to autumn, or continuously over 4 to 5 months from spring to autumn in the right climate, in moist soil. The flowers are made up of a tube flaring into 5 deep red petals, alongside thin and turbinate buds. They are gathered in corymbs, mainly at the terminal part of branches aged 1 or 2 years. This flowering, nectar-rich and melliferous, is followed by the formation of long reddish pods that burst when ripe, releasing a multitude of small seeds with a tuft of white bristles, to be dispersed by the wind. Be careful not to prune oleander too severely: only stems that have reached a certain length bear flowers!

A symbol of resistance and generosity, Nerium oleander makes an excellent hedge plant by the sea but also a magnificent standalone specimen in a sunny site. Hardy down to -8/-10°C (17.6/14 °F) once well established, it will grow without problem in any ordinary but well-drained soil. It can be used as a hedge plant, with regular pruning, in combination with other evergreen bushes such as Laurustinus, Elaeagnus ebbingei, Mexican Orange, myrtles, Pittosporum tobira and Grevillea. In a mild climate it can be trained as a small tree, by selecting the best stem and bringing it up to 1m50 to 2m (5 to 7 ft) from the ground before letting it branch out. Such specimens are particularly ornamental but require very mild winters that won't risk needing to cut it back to the ground: you don't want to see several years of work destroyed by severe frost in a few hours! It will reign supreme on the terrace in a large pot, in the company of citrus trees, Grevillea and oleanders. This allows the tree to be stored in a very bright, cool but frost-free room over winter in very cold regions.

The genus name 'Nerium' may come from the ancient Greek name Nerion, derived from Nereus, a sea god of Greek mythology. Another interpretation relates Nerium to neros, which means "wet" in Greek. The liquid element common to both interpretations is probably explained by the fact that wild oleander never grows very far from water. Its long roots anchor deeply in the soil to draw up moisture, even on the sides of gorges or the beds of dried-up rivers. As proof of its incredible resistance to drought, in arid regions like the Negev in Israel or the south of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas, Nerium oleander is one of the only bushes (along with Acacia and Retama, a kind of broom) capable of surviving in the desert, anchored in the walls of ravines.