On 10/13/2013 3:02 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Sunday, October 13, 2013 1:22:04 PM UTC-7, W wrote:
I am looking for a thick, tall, flowering, fast-growing hedge that does well

in California. So far Oleander looks like a good candidate.



I need:



* Approximately four feet wide, and dense enough that you cannot see through

it.

* Flowering, preferably multiple times a year

* Eight to 10 feet tall

* Very fast growing

* Does well in direct sun and shade



This would be in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mediterranean climate and not

directly on the coast.



I have been trying Photinia as a hedge, but it simply isn't thick enough.

It shoots up new growth in a few major branches, but even in the thickest

sections you can see right through it. It would take six years to get

thick at the current rate, and even then it might not be dense.

Hi, W. You might want to look further Oleander can be lethally
poisonous. There are MANY sites on-line that detail the risks. I
once had a tenant who asked me to remove the oleander in his yard,
for fear of a child or an animal being harmed.


Accidental poisoning by oleanders is extremely rare. The most common
instances occur in public parks where users cut long, thin branches of
oleander to use as BBQ skewers. Even then, those people become slightly
ill but not dead.

Other common garden plants are also poisonous. One leaf of a peach tree
contains enough cyanide to kill a small child; the almond-like kernel in
the pit can kill an adult. Foxglove makes an excellent tea that is
medicine for heart disease; but if the tea is too strong, it is deadly
(digitalis). Lilies of the valley are quite toxic. While the fruit of
Natal plum is both edible and tasty, the rest of the plant is as toxic
as its near releative: oleander. The foliage of tomato and potato
plants is toxic since those are related to tobacco. Etc, etc.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary