"judith. wrote ..

Bob, we have friends in Moissac, they have a much more temperate
climate than ours and indeed they have oleanders outside all year
round. Their names are not Geoff and Lydia by any chance?

No, Laraine and Dave, and I've not heard them mention a Geoff and Lydia
although it wouldn't surprise me if they did know of each other. Probably
met at a Market or Fete sometime, you can't miss the English being spoken.
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
17mls W. of London.UK

On 27/8/07 18:25, in article , "Bob
Hobden" wrote:


"judith. wrote after...
"Bob Hobden" replied to her:
My French neighbours have welcomed us to the village, full time
instead of Maison Secondaire, by giving me this lovely huge urn with
an Oleander of around 1 metre in it. We have extreme temperatures
here in Winter. As Oleander is not suited to these temperatures, what
advice can you give so that it survives over Winter?

Where some friends live in France has extreme temperatures during
winter, -13°C a couple of years ago, and there are lots of Oleanders
planted
around there. Some suffer damage but they soon grow back.
Take a good look around and check to see if there are any planted in
gardens
near where you are.


Judith wrote:
Thank you everyone who replied. I have been talking to the nursery
owner where my neighbours bought the plant. He tells me that because
of the altitude here, we are very high up and usually get the first
snows on Christmas Eve, the plant will have to come in to a light,
frost free place, it cannot survive the below zero temperatures it
would be subjected to for 3 months or so.

I walked round the village yesterday, I could not see a single one,
except in pots round swimming pools. Because the plant has huge
sentimental value to me, it was given as a welcome, I could not bear
to lose it. I will take a few cuttings. I am anxious about it only
because it means a lot to me.

Bob wrote:
3 months of very cold weather, below zero, would not do them any good.
Where our friends are, near Moissac in the Tarn-et-Garonne, you get very
cold nights but it tends to get up above freezing during the day and the
cold bit doesn't last that long anyway. Lots of Albizias, Oleanders etc.
(including a yellow one?)

I think a lot of things will take some more cold than is normally
recommended, the books being wise enough to err on the side of caution. As
has been said often on here, what gets them is the combination of cold *and*
wet, especially over a prolonged period. We have things here that are out
in the garden and we find will go to -5 when they're supposed to be frost
tender. But what will get them every time is wet roots that are cold, too.
That's why, in the winter, watering in the greenhouses is done in the
mornings, if needed and not at night when the temps fall. (Heating in the
greenhouses here only comes on if the temp falls to zero)
It can be worth pushing the envelope to see how much plants will tolerate
but that's easily said and done here where we can replace things and where
we're not talking about something especially precious, as in Judith's case.
It's also interesting (for us) to try things in different parts of the
garden to see what they'll put up with if there's a bit of a tree canopy, or
they're close to the house etc. We've had a Beschorneria yuccoides
over-winter in the tea room bed but that's sloping and well-drained. It's a
horrible thing IMO but obviously tougher than one might imagine! I want to
try a Cassia corymbosa against the S facing house wall and see if it will
come through the winter. (I want to try one of its cousins, too) It would
have done last winter but we lost it by the square fish pond a few years ago
- too exposed.
We got a Fuchsia boliviana through the winter a few years ago but it really
didn't like it and barely flowered and then not until the very end of the
next summer season.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'