Is it possible to get poisoned by oleander. Poisonous flowers that are better not to give

Oleander ( Nerium) - a genus of flowering plants of the Kutrovye family ( Apocynaceae). The only kind Oleander common (Nerium oleander) is a shrub widespread in the subtropical regions of the planet. In nature, oleander grows near water. As an ornamental plant, oleander is widely used in landscape design in regions with a subtropical climate. It is also cultivated as a flowering houseplant. We will talk about the features of growing oleander in room conditions in the article.

Terry flowers Oleander. © Keith Williamson

Features of growing oleander in room conditions

There is a legend that in ancient times, when a huge volcano suddenly woke up over one wonderful city, people rushed to run, but the lake blocked their way. The beautiful son of the gods Oleander, to help the townspeople, drank the lake, but could not move on. People were saved, the young man died in hot lava. The flower, which was given the name of the hero, is always ready to help a person. He is very unusual: strong, beautiful, poisonous and noble.

Oleander is suitable only for large areas. Firstly, the small bush that you buy in the store, with proper care, will grow two meters in height. Secondly, the wonderful fragrance of its flowers is too strong. In a small room you just get a headache. For the same reason, you can not keep an oleander in the bedroom.

Oleander is poisonous, but smelling its flowers is safe. But it is better to work with an adult plant with gloves. We have to abandon this useful plant and those who have small children, as well as children's institutions.

Oleander care at home

Location. As much heat and light as possible. In winter - coolness (not higher than +8 ° C) and light (heat and lack of lighting will destroy the plant), in summer, open air, sun and breeze are useful for oleander.

Lighting. The bigger, the better.

Air humidity. Moderate.

Watering. In summer - maximum (if the plant is in the sun, there should be water in the pan all the time). Water - settled, not hard, room temperature. Winter watering - as needed, with tepid water.

Pruning. On a large oleander bush, all faded branches are cut off in autumn, otherwise there will be few shoots in spring. Faded inflorescences should not be removed closer to autumn - they will be the first to bloom in spring.

Reproduction. cuttings. Place the stalk in a bottle of water, dropping a few pieces of charcoal into it. Close the neck with cotton. Leave until roots appear.

Transfer. Young plants are transplanted annually, grown up - once every 2-3 years. Transplantation is done only in the spring. Fully grown plants do not even need to be transshipped, it is enough to replace the topsoil. Optimal substrate: turf land, humus and peat in equal amounts.

In the southern regions, oleander can be grown in the ground. On the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in Transcaucasia, it is widely used for landscaping streets and parks. Oleander does not care about exhaust gases, it perfectly cleans the air. Thanks to numerous plantings, the oleander has become a flourishing symbol of the city of Yalta.

Terry flowers Oleander. © cobalt123

Diseases and pests of oleander

Shchitovka

Wipe the leaves with a sponge dampened with soapy water. Then spray the plant with a 0.15% Actellic solution (1-2 ml per 1 liter of water).

spider mite

Wipe the leaves with soapy water, then hold under a hot shower (water temperature is about 50 degrees). Regular spraying is also necessary. With a strong lesion - actellik solution (0.15%).

Mealybugs

The control measures are the same as for the spider mite.

Signs of oleander poisoning

Important! Deaths are possible when using wood as fuel and brewing tea from the leaves.

After a few hours, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), visual effects begin. Later, a rare slow irregular pulse, a drop in blood pressure, followed by cardiac arrest.

When ingested, it causes cardiovascular disorders.

Attention! Care must be taken when handling this plant, as its wood and sap are poisonous. During transplantation, it is advisable to use gloves, and after contact with the plant, you need to wash your hands.

Beautiful evergreen foliage and wood common oleander (Nerium oleander), contain a cardiac glycoside, which in small doses stimulates the work of a weakened heart muscle, but in case of an overdose leads to arrhythmias and blockade of the electrical conduction of the heart, which is necessary for its normal contractions.

Oleander (Nerium) is a plant from the Kutrovye family. The flower received the second name "pink laurel" for the similarity of foliage with leaves. The Greek name of the plant is associated with the legend of Oleander, the son of an ancient god. The young man sacrificed himself, saving people from an erupting volcano. In memory of this feat, a beautiful flower and received the name of the hero.

Origin

The perennial shrub oleander is common in the subtropical climate of our planet (in our country, extensive thickets of oleander can be seen on the Black Sea coast). Under natural conditions, the oleander is able to grow up to 3 - 4 m in height, forming lush flowering bushes. In areas with a cold climate, the plant is cultivated as an indoor flower.

Description

Oleander is an evergreen shrub with brownish stems. The leaves are narrow, up to 15 cm long and 2–3 cm wide, leathery and shiny. Oleander blooms for a long time, in open ground, from early summer to autumn. The flowers are bright, up to 5 cm in diameter: white, pink, red, yellow. Flowers are collected in racemes of several pieces. There are simple or double flower forms.

You can get acquainted with the oleander by looking at the photo of the flower.

Important! Oleander is poisonous! If you inhale the fragrance of a flower for a long time, you can get a severe headache. Oleander juice that has entered the body can cause severe intestinal poisoning or heart failure. The flower is forbidden to be placed in bedrooms and children's rooms.

• "Rising Sun" with pale pink flowers, with abundant flowering (up to 40 open flowers at the same time);
• "Salmon" - a variety with medium-sized simple flowers in pastel shades with a yellow center;
• "Variegata" is an oleander variety with variegated foliage and bright pink double flowers.

There are two more interesting varieties of oleander: Indian and fragrant. Indian oleander blooms with large flowers of different colors from June to October. Fragrant oleander reaches a height of only half a meter, and has a pleasant aroma.

Optimal conditions for growing oleander

Before you buy an oleander for your home greenhouse, you should evaluate whether the conditions of the room are suitable for such a difficult plant.

1. Light room. Oleander is a resident of the subtropics, where the duration of a sunny day is at least 10 hours. It is better if the plants are installed near an east or southeast window. It is necessary to take care of the winter illumination of the plant with special lamps.
2. Large volume of the room, with mandatory ventilation. The strong aroma of oleander, although pleasant to the nose, can cause severe headaches. For the same reason, the flower is not placed in bedrooms, nurseries or other rooms where people spend a lot of time. It would be optimal to put a pot of oleander in a spacious bright hall, winter garden, office.
3. The room should be warm enough, without drafts. For oleander, the temperature is considered to be optimal, not lower than +20 degrees. In a colder room, the plant stops flowering, and may lose foliage. For the winter, the plant is satisfied with a cool existence, with an air temperature of about +15 degrees.

In summer, a young oleander plant is useful to take out into the street. Place it in the garden or on the balcony, in a sunny place. An adult plant is too large and not transportable.

Planting an oleander

The easiest way to propagate oleander cuttings. In spring or late autumn (before or after flowering), cuttings are cut from the plant from young twigs.

Attention! You need to wear gloves when working with oleander! The sap of the plant can cause serious skin irritation.

The length of the cuttings is 12 - 14 cm. Sections of twigs are dusted with crushed charcoal and allowed to dry a little. Next, the cuttings are dipped in a mixture of river sand or vermiculite and charcoal. The soil is kept moist until the roots of the plant grow. Another option for rooting oleander twigs is to put them in a bottle of water in which a rooting stimulant (kornevin or heterouoxin) and a few charcoal tablets are dissolved. The necks of the bottle are plugged with cotton. Cuttings for the rooting period should be in a warm and bright room. The roots of the cuttings grow within 30-40 days.

Spacious pots are prepared for seedlings, with a volume of at least 6 - 8 liters. Oleander grows quickly, so a large container is immediately chosen. The oleander should be transplanted into a larger container every 2 years until the container volume reaches 40 liters. Adult plants annually change the top layer of soil to fresh soil.
The land for the oleander is prepared from a mixture of soddy humus, garden soil, sand and peat (2: 2: 1: 1). You can use purchased soil for violets. At the bottom of the pot it is necessary to pour expanded clay or pebbles for drainage.

Seed propagation is rarely used, due to the low germination of seeds and their slow growth. For successful germination of oleander seeds, only fresh planting material is taken. Before sowing, the seeds are soaked for half an hour in a solution of potassium permanganate or phytosporin, then immersed in a solution of a growth simulator (epin, zircon) for a couple of hours. The best time to sow oleander seeds is March. Wet seeds are sown in a soil mixture consisting of perlite or sand, peat and humus. The temperature in the room with crops should be maintained at +30 degrees, the soil must be constantly moistened. It is convenient to build a film greenhouse over the bowls with crops. Seeds germinate in about 2 weeks.

Seedling care consists in providing plants with light for 10-12 hours, regular watering with warm water and spraying. The ambient temperature is maintained at +20 +25 degrees. At the age of 3 - 5 true leaves, the oleander is transplanted into separate spacious containers.

Care

Oleander is demanding not only for lighting and heat, but also for moisture. It is best to water the plant through a drip tray with soft water at room temperature. In the summer, watering can be daily, the earth ball should be moderately wet. 2 - 3 times a week, in the evening, the crown of the oleander is sprayed with warm water.

In winter, watering is reduced, the soil in the flower pot should be slightly damp. Spraying is not carried out in winter. But, if the tips of the oleander leaves began to dry from too dry air in the room, you can place bowls of water around the plant to increase the humidity of the air.

From April to September, every 2 weeks, the oleander is fed with a complex mineral fertilizer for flowers (Rainbow, Kemira Lux, Agricola). It is correct to fertilize the flower only on moist soil, an hour after watering with plain water.

An important point in the care of indoor oleander is the correct pruning of the plant. Once every 2 - 3 years, in the month of March, some shoots are shortened to half their length. This operation contributes to better branching of the oleander and makes the bush more magnificent. Sanitary pruning is carried out annually, removing weak and thickened branches.

Attention! All cut parts of the plant are thrown away, packed in plastic bags. Do not burn the branches, when burning, toxic smoke is released. All tools, after working with oleander, are thoroughly washed.

After flowering, all wilted buds are removed to preserve the decorative effect of the flower.

At home, oleander can be affected by common indoor plant pests: spider mites and mealybugs. They get rid of the scale insects by wiping the leaves and stem with a sponge and soapy water (you can use household or special green soap). In case of severe infection, the crown of the plant is sprayed with Actellik, at a dosage of 2 ml per liter of water.

From the worm, the oleander is also relieved by bathing the plant under a hot shower (water temperature 50 - 55 degrees). Then, an insecticide spray is applied.

The best prevention of the appearance of pests on indoor plants is strict quarantine and preventive chemical treatment of all purchased plants.

Despite the poisonousness of the oleander, the flower is considered a plant that brings happiness to the house. Since ancient times, it has been believed that pink laurel rids the room of bad energy, purifies the air and heals the atmosphere. And simply, the lush flowering of the shrub pleases the eye and improves mood.

See also video

Oleander ( lat. Nerium) is a monotypic genus of flowering plants of the Kutrovye family (Apocynaceae). The only species is the common oleander, a shrub that is widespread in the subtropical regions of the planet.

Description.

Bush or tree of the Kutrovye family (Apocynaceae) up to 4 m high. Branched stems with light gray bark. Leaves are evergreen, opposite or in whorls (3-4), leathery, entire, lanceolate-pointed, up to 15 cm long, up to 3 cm wide, with developed veins. The lower part of the leaf is pubescent.

The flowers are regular, bisexual, collected in apical umbellate panicles. Corolla pink, reddish, white, yellowish with a five-lobed limb. There are also double flowers. Blooms from June to August.

The fruits ripen in October - November. The fruit consists of two leaflets up to 20 cm long, which crack on the sides. Seeds are numerous, with a hairy tuft at the end.

The common oleander is propagated vegetatively (by cuttings) and by seeds. This plant is native to the Mediterranean. It grows on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, in Transcaucasia, on the southern coast of Crimea. It is also grown as a houseplant.

Collection and preparation

For medicinal purposes, the leaves of the common oleander are used. The leaves must be fully developed. Their harvesting is carried out in October - November, it is also possible in April, before the start of active growth. Oleander is a poisonous plant, so the leaves are plucked with protective gloves. They are laid out thinly on fabric. Dry outdoors in the shade. Can be dried in a heated room with normal ventilation. In the dryer dried at t 50°C. When the petioles of the leaves become brittle and break when bent, such raw materials are considered dried.

Plant composition.

Oleander leaves contain cardiac glycosides (including oleandrin), flavonoids (kaempferol-3-rhamnoglycoside, rutin), ursolic acid, saponin carbine.

Useful properties, application, treatment.

Oleander ordinary has cardiotonic, diuretic, antiviral properties. The preparations of this plant improve the activity of the heart muscle, dilate the coronary arteries, reduce the heartbeat, lower blood pressure, and increase diuresis.

Common oleander is prescribed for mild forms of heart failure, angina pectoris. In its action, it is similar to foxglove, but oleander glycosides act faster, softer, and are quickly excreted from the body.

In folk medicine, an infusion of oleander leaves is indicated for headaches, insomnia, epilepsy, apoplexy, diarrhea, and muscle spasms. Outwardly, in the form of lotions, compresses, an infusion of oleander leaves is used for lichen, weeping eczema. With a toothache, rinses are done.

Dosage forms and doses.

Infusion of oleander leaves. Half a teaspoon of dry crushed oleander leaves is poured into 250 ml of boiling water. Insist 1 hour, filter. Take before meals 3 r. per day, 25-30 ml.

For compresses and lotions, the infusion is prepared at the rate of 50 g of dried leaves per 500 ml of water.

Since oleander is a deadly poisonous plant, one should be very careful when taking its preparations. It is necessary to observe the dosage and be attentive to well-being.

Symptoms of oleander poisoning:

dilated pupils, vomiting, delirium, severe diarrhea, colic. At the first sign of poisoning, urgent medical attention is needed.

Treatment with oleander must be carried out under the supervision of a physician.

Oleander - the beauty of this plant is indisputable: as if terry roses strewn a tender tree. Poets, writers, artists throughout the ages have sung about the splendor of bright colors:

Cold gold of the moon
The smell of oleander and levkoy.
It's good to wander among peace
Blue and affectionate country ...
S. Yesenin

And botanists are deducing more and more new, even more spectacular, varieties of oleander.

But how can beauty be given as a gift? This is one of the most poisonous plants on earth. And before you buy a beautiful oleander in a flower shop, you should get to know him better ...

Dangerous and attractive

So, let's find out what is bad and what is good about oleander, where this luxurious shrub should not be grown, and where it will be in place.

Carefully:

• As mentioned above, oleander is poisonous, and its poison can be deadly. That is why it is strongly not recommended to place the oleander in children's and medical institutions, as well as in those houses where there are small children and animals. The poison is found in all parts of the plant!

[!] Because of the oleander, the army of Alexander the Great suffered huge losses during the conquest of the Crimea. The soldiers strung the meat on the twigs of the plant and ate it. Food, soaked in oleander juice, has become deadly.

• It is not necessary to start a shrub for inexperienced flower growers: if you carelessly work with a plant, there is a risk of poisoning. All manipulations: pruning, transplanting, pinching and the like, must be done only with gloves, avoiding the juice getting on the skin and mucous membranes;
• Since indoor oleander can reach quite impressive sizes (up to one and a half meters or more in height), it is more expedient to place it with high ceilings;
• In addition, the plant has a very intense, albeit pleasant, smell. Therefore, it is highly recommended not to grow it in bedrooms and rest rooms.

As you can see, oleander is not suitable for all lovers of indoor plants, however, this magnificent handsome man also has positive qualities:

• Despite its toxicity, oleander is volatile. This means that the plant is able to absorb harmful substances and purify the atmosphere. The air of the room in which the oleander grows will always be clean and fresh;
• Those who believe in the energy of plants believe that the oleander has the ability to dispel the evil thoughts of a person and gives strength and vigor to its owner. Next to this plant there is no place for a bad mood, blues, negative emotions. It is even believed that oleander helps to get rid of bad habits: tobacco addiction and alcoholism. And if you put an oleander in the office, the efficiency of the team will increase significantly.

Here he is so ambiguous, this southern handsome man.

For those who have made a firm decision to grow oleander, a few recommendations and tips.

Description, type and varieties of oleander

Oleander (lat. Nerium) is a sprawling shrub with narrow, long leaves of a dense structure of rich green color. Most of all, oleander is valued for its flowering. Flowers are large and bright, colored, depending on the variety, in red, white, pink or yellow.

The origin of the name is not exactly known. According to one theory, the plant is named in tune with the Latin word olea (olive), according to another, it is a combination of two Greek words.

The homeland of the oleander is the islands of Greece, Turkey, Southern Europe. Now the oleander is grown in almost all subtropical regions, in Russia it can be seen on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Under natural conditions, a flowering shrub prefers to settle on the banks of rivers, including dry ones, or near other bodies of water.

In botanical systematics, oleander belongs to the genus of the same name, which is monotypic. This means that there is only one species in the genus - the common oleander (lat. Nerium oleander). However, despite this, breeders have bred a large number of a wide variety of varieties, differing, as a rule, in color and shape of flowers.

Light pink:

• "Kewpie" (Kivpi) - five-petal flowers of a delicate creamy pink color;
• "Double Peach" (Double Peach) - light coral terry flowers;
• "Martha Hanna Henslee" (Martha Hanna Hensley) - light pink flowers with darker veins and a wavy edge.

O. "Kewpie", O. "Double Peach", O. "Martha Hanna Henslee"

Hot pink:

• "Antoine" (Anthony) - pink petals with a pointed tip and purple-red veins;
• "General Pershing" (General Pershing) - a deep pink double flower, some petals are decorated with a white pattern;
• "Italia" (Italy) - petals, with edges twisted inward, bright red-pink color.

O. "Antoine", O. "General Pershing", O. "Italia"

• "Hardy White" (Hardy White) - simple five-petal white flowers;
• "Sister Agnes" (Sisters Agnes) - snow-white petals with a wavy edge;
• "Album Plenum" (Album Plenum) - large white double flowers with a light yellow center.

O. Hardy White, O. Sister Agnes, O. Album Plenum

Orange peach:

• "Sherrie Allen Turner" (Sherrie Allen Turner) - soft carrot petals with a darker center;
• "Angiolo Pucci" (Angelo Pucci) - graceful flowers of pale yellow-orange color with a bright orange core;
• "Mrs Roeding" (Mrs. Roeding) - lush double flowers of a uniform light salmon color.

O. "Sherrie Allen Turner", O. "Angiolo Pucci", O. "Mrs Roeding"

• "Blue Blanc Red D" (Blue Blanc Red Di) - reddish-pink petals with a bright white pattern along the central vein;
• "Cherry Ripe" (Sherri Ripe) - simple five-petal amaranth flowers with a white pistil;
• "Rubis" (Rubis) - densely double uniformly colored red flowers.

O. Blue Blanc Red D, O. Cherry Ripe, O. Rubis

• "Maria Gambetta" (Maria Gambetta) - elongated narrow lemon-colored petals with a darker center;
• "Luteum Plenum" (Luteum Plenum) - delicate white-yellow double flowers;
• "Mathilde Ferrier" (Mathilde Ferrier) - petals with corrugated edges and a sharp tip of light saffron yellow.

O. "Maria Gambetta", O. "Luteum Plenum", O. "Mathilde Ferrier"

This is only a small part of the collection of oleander varieties. In fact, there are many more of them and every year more and more new ones appear.

Growing and caring for oleander at home

Oleander cannot be attributed to too capricious house plants, but there are still some subtleties of caring for the southern flower. This is the organization of the dormant period, and the correct pruning, and error-free watering. But first things first.

Temperature and rest period

In nature, oleander grows in regions with a subtropical climate: hot summers and cool (5-10 ° C) winters. That is why the change of seasons is important for the oleander, and the task of the grower is to organize this cycle.

In summer, the plant can be kept at room temperature 23-27 ° C. In autumn, as it is in nature, the temperature should drop. In winter, a dormant period begins, so the optimal range at this time is 10-12 ° C. The minimum temperature at which a southern guest can overwinter is 5 °C.

How to organize all this in the conditions of a city apartment or a house in the temperate latitudes of Russia? As a rule, we have warm summers, so in July-August, the oleander can be taken out into the fresh air, and in the fall, when it gets colder, brought into a closed, cool room and, during the winter, leave the oleander there. Such a winter room can be a glazed loggia or veranda of a house, a hall or an office lobby. In the most extreme case, the plant can be left for the winter in a warm room, but the flowering of such an oleander will be much less lush.

Watering, humidity and lighting

Just like the temperature, the frequency and intensity of watering varies depending on the time of year. In addition, do not forget that in nature oleanders prefer places with a high level of groundwater, and therefore at home there should be enough moisture.

Summer watering of the oleander should be plentiful: you need to water immediately after the top layer of the substrate dries out a little. In autumn, watering is gradually reduced. In the winter months, the shrub requires quite little moisture, the frequency of watering at this time is 1-2 times a week.

So that the roots of the plant do not get supercooled, they take water at room temperature for irrigation. It is also important to pre-defend the water - an excess of calcium salts in tap water can harm the delicate oleander.

High humidity is a serious enough parameter for growing oleander. A tray of wet pebbles or frequent spraying of the leaves of the plant will help maintain the necessary humidity.

In the hot subtropics, in the homeland of the southern guest, the sun shines almost all year round. Growing oleander at home, you need to provide the plant with the same intense insolation. The best location will be the windows of the south, southeast and southwest directions. Moreover, bright sunlight is required both in summer and in winter.

[!] Due to the lack of light, indoor oleander often loses its decorative effect - it stretches, grows bald, blooms poorly.

If there are no southern windows in the apartment, you can additionally highlight the plant with fitolamps.

Unlike many other plants, the oleander is not afraid of drafts and ventilation; moreover, fresh air is vital for flowering shrubs.

pruning

In order for the oleander to bloom luxuriantly and bush, it is necessary to prune once a year.

Regarding the timing of pruning, the opinions of Russian flower growers were divided. Some argue that it is necessary to cut the bush in early spring, before the plant awakens. Others talk about autumn pruning, carried out before the dormant period. Both of them are right - it's all about the wintering conditions of the oleander. If the shrub spends the winter in a warm room, the best time for crown formation is February-March. Otherwise, the plant will begin to actively grow. If the oleander hibernates in a cool room, you can cut it in the fall.

To form a shrub, oleander branches are cut by half or one third. Subsequently, the cut shoots begin to branch well, and flowering buds form at their ends. Therefore, the more young branches an oleander has, the more lush the flowering will be.

[!] Be sure to use rubber gloves during pruning, and thoroughly wash all tools after the procedure. Dispose of cut shoots so that animals and children do not reach them.

Soil, transplant and top dressing

For planting oleander, a nutritious and at the same time sufficiently water- and breathable soil with low acidity is best suited. You can use a purchased universal substrate by adding a little sand to it, or you can prepare the soil mixture yourself by taking two parts of sod land and one part of leafy soil, peat and sand.

Transplantation is carried out once a year for young plants and once every two to three years for older specimens. The best time to transplant oleander is in early spring, before active shrub growth. As an alternative to a full-fledged transplant, you can get by in more gentle ways: transshipment or renewal of the topsoil. In order to avoid bottom rotting of the roots, do not forget about a sufficient layer of drainage - at least a quarter of the total volume of dishes.

[!] For. in order for the oleander to bloom magnificently, always plant it in a fairly close container (1-2 cm more than an earthy coma). If the volume of land is too large, a rapid growth of green mass will begin at the expense of flowering.

The best fertilizer for oleander is fertilizer for flowering plants, such as Bona Forte "For decorative flowering", Pokon "For flowering plants" and the like. And the optimal feeding time is from early spring to mid-summer. In autumn and winter, during the dormant period, the oleander is not fertilized.

Oleander breeding

Oleander can be propagated in several ways:

• cuttings,
• seeds,
• air outlets.

Consider the simplest and most popular of them.

Propagation of oleander by cuttings, perhaps the most elementary method available to both beginners and experienced flower growers.

For rooting, the middle stalk is cut off (the apical, non-dulled ones are too tender and are more likely to die) with several buds. Then the stalk is placed in water for about an hour, after which it is dried for 10-15 minutes and planted. The optimal soil for planting a cutting is a mixture of peat and sand, in addition, it is not forbidden to use vermiculite. Root growth can be accelerated by dipping the shoot before planting in a root stimulator.

The dishes with the planted handle should be covered with a transparent film, jar or plastic bottle and transferred to a warm and bright place. Approximately once a day, the plant must be aired, and also, from time to time, watered.

Reproduction by seeds- a more complex way. The fact is that the germination of oleander seeds is not too high, in addition, not all seeds germinate.

For planting, as a rule, they take several, necessarily fresh seeds at once. Before planting, they are soaked for a day in warm water or a solution of water with growth regulators. Then the seeds are laid out on the surface of the peat-sand mixture and sprinkled on top with the same substrate. It is impossible to deepen the seeds strongly - they will not sprout.

The seed container is moved to a very warm and bright place, the soil is slightly moistened and the first shoots are waiting. Oleander seeds usually produce their first sprouts two to three weeks after planting. When the seedlings are strong enough and the second pair of full-fledged leaves appears, the seedlings can be planted in a regular substrate, and then they can be looked after as an adult plant.

Propagation by air layering- too time-consuming and complicated way, suitable only for the most experienced flower growers.

Pests, diseases and growing problems

In addition to common plant diseases caused by improper care (various rot, spotting, burns), there is a disease that is unique to oleander - oleander cancer. The cause of the disease is the phytopathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. nerii, and its main symptom is ugly dark growths on all parts of the oleander. With the development of oleander cancer, diseased flowers and leaves, as a rule, fall off, the affected branches break, as a result, the plant may die.

To date, there are no drugs that completely destroy Pseudomonas. And only preventive measures can prevent this formidable disease:

• processing tools after trimming,
• timely removal of infected flowers, leaves and shoots.

Leaves are falling on the oleander. Almost all, even evergreen, plants renew their green cover every three to four years. If leaf fall is observed in an adult oleander, you should not worry - this is a natural process. After a while, new young leaves will grow. When a young plant sheds leaves, this is a symptom of a lack of lighting. What to do: move the shrub to a more lit place.

The tips of the leaves dry. The likely cause is dry air. What to do: increase the humidity of the air by the methods suggested above.

Leaves and shoots lose turgor, become lethargic, the leaf plate turns yellow. More likely. The plant was affected by root rot. What to do: Remove the oleander from the pot, carefully inspect the roots. If there are rotten areas, cut the root to healthy tissue, completely change the substrate and transplant.

Oleander does not bloom. This problem can occur due to several factors: too warm wintering, lack of lighting and moisture, improper pruning or lack thereof. What to do: completely eliminate all of the above circumstances.

Dark needles on young shoots. This is a structural feature of the oleander, which inexperienced gardeners are sometimes confused with pests.

Once, in ancient times, a volcano woke up on a southern island. The sky darkened with ash, red-hot lava flowed through the streets of the city, and stones fell from the sky, killing all life. Neither people nor animals could escape - their path was blocked by a large lake. And then the son of the gods, Oleander, decided to help the unfortunate people. He drank the lake and cleared the way. People escaped, and Oleander died under the lava, unable to move. In honor of the feat of the brave young man, they named a wonderful shrub growing on the shores of deep lakes ...

The homeland of the wild-growing common oleander is considered to be Asia Minor. This beautiful plant is a common inhabitant of the vast expanses of many Mediterranean countries, an integral part of their landscapes. This low evergreen shrub is especially noticeable here during flowering - from June to October.

It is worth at least a glimpse down from a hill or mountain, as against the background of the greenery of the valleys, bizarre pink stripes of flowering oleanders catch your eye, densely rising along the banks of the rivers almost to the water itself. Oleander accompanies all streams, streams, lakes and even ditches filled with water, just like our northern willow.

Without this plant, it is difficult to imagine the Black Sea coast: fragrant oleander flowers adorn the boulevards, gardens and parks of many coastal cities of the Crimea and the Caucasus. And in general, oleander is the most common ornamental plant, one of the most ancient and best known to man. It was bred in the gardens of Ancient Greece and Rome. Beautifully preserved images of the oleander can be seen among the bouquets and flower garlands on the frescoes of Pompeii.

He ... However, "he" is it? Of course, the word "oleander" is masculine. But after all, the scientific generic name of the common oleander - Nerium, in all likelihood, is associated with the name of the mythical nymphs of the sea element Nereids and was given to the oleander because it grows mainly near the water. And the specific name - oleander, is believed to be composed of two words: olens (odorous) and Andros - the name of one of the Greek islands. So it turns out that the full name is “Nereid from the fragrant island of Andros”!

evergreen oleander plant

Despite the fact that this type of oleander is called "ordinary", it turned out to be a real storehouse of various surprises, surprises and contradictions. Let's start with the looks. Oleander is an impressive plant, reaching a height of four meters, among botanists it is listed as a shrub. The fact is that all woody plants that do not have a clearly defined trunk and side branches are considered shrubs. This is what a wild oleander looks like. And although it is possible to achieve by pruning that its appearance will not differ in any way from a tree, for a botanist it will still remain a bush ...

We have already said that the oleander, like our willow, prefers the banks of water bodies: apparently, its distant ancestors were moisture-loving plants. You might think that this is a sissy plant, for which even a short-term drought will be dangerous. But no - it turns out that in the course of evolution he perfectly adapted to droughts. Its bare dark green leaves with short petioles can withstand even the famous Mediterranean sirocco - a long dry and hot wind that is detrimental to many plants. The point here is the structure of the stomata of the leaves.

Finding stomata on a leaf, even the largest one, is not easy: with the naked eye, only rows of some white dots are visible on its surface. Under a magnifying glass, you can see that these are bundles of white hairs that grow from some kind of pits. And only by carefully examining these pits under a microscope, you can find their tiny holes at the bottom - these are the stomata. By hiding them at the very bottom of the pits, and also protecting them with hairs, the oleander prevents excessive evaporation of water during summer droughts or withering sirocco. The leaf evaporates much less water than the leaves of other less drought tolerant plants.

Beware the oleander!

Although the oleander has long entered the home of man, it should be handled with extreme care. Even the fragrance of the beautiful pinkish-white flowers of this plant, for example in a poorly ventilated room or in an oleander grove, can cause severe headaches, dizziness, and weakness in people. And oleander juice is especially dangerous for humans.

It is said that once in Italy a group of French soldiers unknowingly fried meat on skewers made from freshly picked branches of the plant. Of the twelve soldiers who participated in this meal, eight died, poisoned by poisonous oleander juice. This story does not interfere with the memory of tourists and hunters who are going to fry shish kebab somewhere on the Black Sea coast. The same danger of poisoning awaits us when we eat a by-product, so to speak, of the oleander product - honey collected by bees from its flowers.

True, sometimes nature lovers can be misled by birds. Completely ignoring the poisonous properties of the oleander, starlings, warblers, linnets and greenfinches, as if nothing had happened, hunt insects in its branches, and golden bee-eaters and common starlings catch bees collecting poisonous honey with impunity. Freshly picked leaves and thin branches of oleander have been found more than once in the nests of the European honey buzzard. This feathered predator builds its nests from green branches, and then, as they dry up, replaces them with fresh ones. And it turned out that honey beetles nesting on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea and the Caucasus even prefer oleander branches when choosing building material for their nests.

It is known that many of the most poisonous plants are a valuable source of medicines. The common oleander is no exception. All its organs contain potent biologically active substances - glycosides. They give the oleander poisonous properties, and in small doses they also have a healing effect.

Oleander glycosides are derivatives of. In total, five glycosides were found in its leaves, of which oleandrin has the greatest medical significance - it acts on the heart in much the same way as digitalis preparations, but faster. From the leaves of the oleander, both the total preparation of glycosides - cornerin, and the preparation neriolin containing only oleandrin are obtained; both are used in acute and chronic circulatory failure and especially in mitral valve defects with atrial fibrillation.

An antibiotic, oleandromycin, was also found in the leaves of the oleander (just do not confuse it with another, more well-known antibiotic, oleandomycin: it has nothing to do with the oleander, but is produced by fungi). Oleandromycin is active against staphylococci resistant to penicillin and other antibiotics. And since we are talking about medicine, then in conclusion we will give some advice in case someone, through negligence, nevertheless gets poisoned by oleander juice. Glycosides, like many other plant poisons, act very quickly, and the victim must be helped immediately.

First aid for oleander poisoning

At the first symptoms of poisoning with oleander poison (abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, slowing of the pulse, which later becomes intermittent, cyanosis of the skin, the appearance of convulsions), measures should be taken immediately to remove the poison from the stomach. Then the patient should be laid face down and warm his legs with vigorous rubbing or a heating pad. To prevent absorption of the poison into the bloodstream, substances are given that make the poison insoluble, such as a mixture of three egg whites with a glass of water, or, even better, two glasses of milk; after 20-30 minutes, you need to induce vomiting again. No food and especially alcohol should not be given to the patient. It is also advisable to preserve the remains of a poisonous plant that is suspected or undisputedly the cause of poisoning: this will help the doctor to make a correct diagnosis.

However, if you study well the characteristic signs of a poisonous oleander in advance, a person’s meetings with him - both at home and in a living laboratory of nature - will always be conflict-free.

V. Kharchenko, K. Feldberg

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Grape

In gardens and home gardens, you can choose a warmer place for planting grapes, for example, on the sunny side of the house, garden pavilion, veranda. It is recommended to plant grapes along the border of the site. The vines formed in one line will not take up much space and at the same time will be well lit from all sides. Near buildings, grapes should be placed so that water flowing from the roofs does not fall on it. On level ground, it is necessary to make ridges with good drainage due to drainage furrows. Some gardeners, following the experience of their colleagues in the western regions of the country, dig deep planting holes and fill them with organic fertilizers and fertilized soil. Pits dug in waterproof clay are a kind of closed vessel that fills with water during the monsoon rains. In fertile land, the root system of grapes develops well at first, but as soon as waterlogging begins, it suffocates. Deep pits can play a positive role in soils where good natural drainage is provided, the subsoil is permeable, or reclamation artificial drainage is possible. planting grapes

You can quickly restore an obsolete grape bush by layering (“katavlak”). To this end, healthy vines of a neighboring bush are placed in grooves dug to the place where the dead bush used to grow, and sprinkled with earth. The top is brought to the surface, from which a new bush then grows. Lignified vines are laid on layering in spring, and green ones in July. They are not separated from the mother bush for two to three years. A frozen or very old bush can be restored by short pruning to healthy above-ground parts or pruning to the “black head” of an underground trunk. In the latter case, the underground trunk is freed from the ground and completely cut down. Not far from the surface, new shoots grow from dormant buds, due to which a new bush is formed. Grape bushes that have been neglected and severely damaged by frost are restored due to stronger fatty shoots formed in the lower part of the old wood and the removal of weakened sleeves. But before removing the sleeve, they form a replacement for it. Grape care

A gardener starting to grow grapes needs to study well the structure of the vine and the biology of this most interesting plant. Grapes belong to liana (climbing) plants, it needs support. But it can creep along the ground and take root, as is observed in Amur grapes in a wild state. The roots and the aerial part of the stem grow rapidly, branch strongly and reach large sizes. Under natural conditions, without human intervention, a branched grape bush grows with many vines of various orders, which comes into fruiting late and yields irregularly. In culture, the grapes are formed, give the bushes a form that is convenient for care, providing a high yield of high-quality clusters. Planting lemongrass

Chinese lemongrass, or schizandra, has several names - lemon tree, red grape, gomisha (Japanese), cochinta, kojianta (Nanai), kolchita (Ulchi), usimtya (Udege), uchampu (Oroch). In terms of structure, systemic relationship, center of origin and distribution, Schisandra chinensis has nothing to do with the real citrus plant lemon, but all its organs (roots, shoots, leaves, flowers, berries) exude the aroma of lemon, hence the name Schisandra. Lemongrass clinging or wrapping around a support, along with Amur grapes, three types of actinidia, is an original plant of the Far Eastern taiga. Its fruits, like real lemons, are too acidic for fresh consumption, but they have medicinal properties, a pleasant aroma, and this attracted a lot of attention to him. The taste of Schisandra chinensis berries improves somewhat after frost. Local hunters who consume such fruits claim that they relieve fatigue, invigorate the body and improve eyesight. In the consolidated Chinese pharmacopoeia, compiled back in 1596, it says: "Chinese lemongrass fruit has five tastes, classified in the first category of medicinal substances. The pulp of lemongrass is sour and sweet, the seeds are bitter-astringent, and in general the taste of the fruit is salty. Thus, It contains all five tastes. Grow lemongrass