Nerium oleander, the ubiquitous median tree of highways in Spain and elsewhere around the Mediterranean, has ripened its seed capsules in the front room of our New Jersey home. NOTA BENE: Oleander is poisonous and not generally considered much of a houseplant if you have small children or pets that might come into contact with it (not a problem here).Our particular tree spends the winters indoors and all season on the deck in as much sun as we can muster. It flowered fairly late last year, and, rather than trim off the spent blooms, I left them to see what would happen. By what magic, I know not, many of the flowers were pollinated and resulted in slender seed capsules. All fall and winter they remained upright and green. Gradually turning brown, they are now beginning to split, revealing ranks of small, pointed seeds with a puff of fluff for their mode of transportation. Interesting.
Now the big question: sow or no? Researching the how is easy enough. Whether to dedicate the space...that's another question. It would be interesting to see what sort of variation would arise from one plant's seed (no question it was selfed), but there isn't room for dozens of small trees, and they'd likely need to be around for a while before they'd bloom.
Such questions us plant folk must ponder....
