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 :

(mr_bailey@sbcglobal.net) Help us reduce postage and printing cost,

read this newsletter on our website www.oleander.org

HELP US GO GREEN