Oleander seeds

Twin oleander seedheads – front one entire, back one split

It looks like a war canoe with fur-clad warriors bent to the oars, but it’s in fact the split-open seed-pod of an oleander.

We planted 50 little oleander bushes along one side of our drive when we widened it and put in lighting. Now only about 40 of them are left because of the toll taken by the heavy frosts over the 5 winters we’ve been here.

They’ve never grown massively like they do in the valleys, but they do bloom, all colours - dark red, deep pink, pale pink, white, and my favourite cream which has a delicious heavy, sweet perfume of honey and vanilla.

It’s one of my winter jobs to cut off the dead heads. In theory I could plant the seeds and grow replacement bushes, but apparently it’s quite a business to get them to grow and they don’t come true to the parent plant. Instead, I’ve been filling the gaps in the row with hibiscus seedlings which grow by themselves.

When I do cut off the dead heads, I have to dispose of them carefully and not put them on the compost heap in case we ever have a bonfire, because burning oleander branches produces toxic smoke.

All parts of the plant are poisonous but their (alleged) foul taste makes them unattractive, fortunately.