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July/August 2014 INTERNATIONAL OLEANDER SOCIETY
2014 Officers
President
Lydia Miller
Vice-President
Lynette Haaga
Recording Secretary
Pat Turk
Internet
Correspondent
Carolyn Sayre
Treasurer
Mary Branum
Past-President
Roxanne Kriticos
Committees
Membership
Betty Williamson
Garden
Mike Landry
Barbara Smith
Public Relations
Mike Bailey
Trustees
Donita Brannon
Danny Carson
Betty Head
John Kriegel
Trustee Emeritus
Betty Lucas
David Rambin
Summertime has definitely arrived
on the Island, but don’t be de-
terred the International Oleander
Society is carrying on to accom-
plish its goals for 2014. Our num-
ber one goal was to have a suc-
cessful 2014 Oleander Festival
and just in case you have not
heard, it was a huge success start-
ing with our luncheon and silent
auction, door prizes donated by
Moody Gardens and a beautiful
centerpiece created by Connie Dryden of Island Flowers.
We followed-up the next two days with our “Festival” in the Moody Gardens Visi-
tors Center with children activities, book and tee-shirt sales and of course the
sale of our propagated oleanders. Our sales were brisk, we met buyers from out
of the city, who have learned the secrets of the oleander, you know, drought and
wind resistant and will bloom in the summer heat and into late fall. Next came
our Second Annual Stroll in the Park. Sparky Koerner’s music filled the air, light
refreshments and wine and
more oleander sales it was
a perfect early evening
event concluding with all of
us doing “The Stroll”.
Thanks to our sponsors
Jeepmasters of Austin,
Southern Seafood and
Constellation Energy, hope-
fully they will be back next
year as this event contin-
ues to grow. We continued
to show off the Oleander
Garden Park by participat-
ing in the Clean Galveston
“Backyard Garden Tour” during the two day event we welcomed over two hun-
dred visitors to our Park and again we sold our oleanders. By the way, we still
have an assortment of oleanders for sale in mix varieties. Contact us if your land-
scape is in need of some color. So that brings us up-to-date on our goals and ac-
complishments. Our Oleander Propagation Program has restarted at the Moody
Gardens Greenhouse at 8:00am please contact us for more information. And
finally, one last item I would like to call to your attention, check out our new web-
site www.oleander.org thank you Chris Kovacevich and Mike Bailey, it could not
have happen without your collaboration.
Nerium News NEWSLETTER OF THE INTERNATIONAL OLEANDER SOCIETY
International Oleander Society Page 2
Article by Betty S. Head
Nomenclature—What’s in a name??
One of the first projects of the newly formed National Oleander Society in 1967 was to look for
and find the 60 varieties of oleanders that had been described in the Galveston News beginning in
1926. Twenty-six were listed in 1926, forty in 1941 and that jumped to 60 in 1942. There were several
problems with the lists due to changes in the names originally recorded during the years and none of the
descriptions were truly adequate.
It was, however, very fortunate to have this much information thanks to the members of the Sealy
family and Ed Barr who maintained the firm’s Oleander Nursery. The Rosenberg Library also had a paint-
ing of these early varieties. After the 1900 storm, oleanders were planted up and down city streets, on
the Broadway median and at homes. Oleanders had bloomed through the rubble of the terrible storm
and the WHPA with members of the Sealy family saw to its use in the beautification of Galveston. In
1926, these plantings were beginning to make Galveston known as the “Oleander City.” No more lists
appeared in the newspaper but articles on newly named varieties continued to appear. Specimens were
collected and, finally, over 100 different varieties were found growing in the city.
As a plant society, it was important to adequately identify these varieties. A Nomenclature Com-
mittee was formed under the direction of Dr. Barry Comeaux of Galveston College. To do this work, one
must learn, not only the color of the flowers, but all parts of the plant’s structure and growth habit. We
learned that the botanic name of our city’s flower was Nerium oleander (genus and species) and that it
belonged to the Apocynaceae Family. We learned that there is an International Code of Nomenclature
for the way that varieties should be named and that an official color chart is used to correctly list the
many colors as well as combinations of colors of the flowers and the leaves. Also, important to record is
the blooming period, possible fragrance and size of the plant. Dr. Octavia Hall mounted a beautiful her-
barium collection of dried varieties which the Society maintains in a vault donated by Dr. Etta Macdon-
ald. The Society has prepared a list to be used in cultivar registration with the collaboration of Oliver
Filippi of France.
The Oleander Garden Park has been a great help to show people these variety differences and
the work of the Nomenclature Committee should continue. There has recently been a great surge of in-
terest in Europe and this country to develop new varieties. Ted Turner in Corpus Christi has hybridized
and patented the dwarf and intermediate types. Our own Robert Newding has also developed a number
of new ones and his ‘Harriet Newding’ is very popular in Europe. Moody Gardens has been a great help
to the Society and its work. We invite those of you who are interested in this important work to become a
part of the Nomenclature Committee and learn about identification and propagation.
Elizabeth S. Head
Page 3
Interesting Color Variation of the Harriet C. Newding Oleander
Submitted By Hybridizer Bob Newding
2014 Calendar of Scheduled Meetings for July and August
July 30 10.00am Hospitality
10:30am/11:30am meeting—Mike Bailey’s home 3824 Ave Q, Galveston
August 27 10.00am Hospitality
10:30am/11:30am meeting—Moody Mansion Ground Floor
Our Sincerest Condolences to :
Oralee Vaughn family (Life Time Member) and Tomor Nazifi family (Grandson of Betty Head)
Nerium News
The International Oleander Society
P.O. Box 3431
Galveston, TX 77552-0431
Propagation at Moody Gardens
All the flowers of all the tomorrows
Are in the seeds of today and yesterday
Chinese proverb
FIRST
WEDDING EVENT
At The Oleander Garden Park
Thank You to our members who have provided email addresses.
If you have not provided us with your email address please forward it to :
([email protected]) Help us reduce postage and printing cost,
read this newsletter on our website www.oleander.org
HELP US GO GREEN