How Do You Feel About Oleander Plants?

Judy Hedding, author of the Phoenix Guide for About.com recently ranked the oleander plant as the #1 desert plant for landscaping.

Ok, not a big deal right? Wrong.

When it comes to landscaping people have strong opinions.

After Judy wrote her article on the oleander, she received the following e-mail:

Oleander? I was amazed you listed this nasty toxic tree as #1 on the desert landscape list. These trees are highly toxic and a major allergy problem for many people. Their pollen and leaves get in your pool and the oil sheen floats on the top of the pool. I poisoned my neighbor’s privacy row of oleanders with HCL over a year or so time frame so he would take them out. This weed should be outlawed in the state. The cheap cost is the only reason it is used. NASTY NASTY NASTY Tree. Please don’t promote this nasty tree as there are so many much better alternatives to it.

He was poisoning his neighbors oleander plants! That’s incredible.

Judy provides a very reasonable response to this fellow, which you can read here.

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Tags: phoenix landscaping, oleander, judy hedding, plants

Photo by nyome wallen.