[David Bracey]

Where is Nigel , there are 3 or 4 questions outstanding??

[MikeHardman]

Jorun - re smoke...
Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your academic credentials.
I find many reports of problems with Oleander smoke. Some of them are spurious, true. But some seem legitimate, eg.
"...inhalation of oleander smoke or ingestion of oleander can result in toxicity to humans or animals and potentially lead to death (Langford & Boor, 1995)." referring to
Langford, L. D., & Boor, P. J. (1996).  'Oleander toxicity: an examination of human and animal toxic exposures' Toxicology, 109, 1-13.
[ http://chemweb.calpoly.edu/cbailey/377/PapersW08/HollyM/home.html ]
--and--
"Toxicity issues of smoke from the Anacardiaceae family and the Oleander are discussed..."
FIRE TECHNOLOGY, Volume 36, Number 3 (2000), 163-183, DOI: 10.1023/A:1015462710856
'Fire and Pesticides, A Review and Analysis of Recent Work'
[ http://www.springerlink.com/content/a80dbrxr8bvyd0cb/ ]
--and--
"The smoke from burning oleanders is especially toxic. Earlier this year, a fire occurred in a Phoenix neighborhood and the fire department called for an evacuation of the area until the fire was under control, all because of the burning oleander."
[ http://waterwhendry.blogspot.com/2007/08/nerium-oleander-vulnerable-after-all.html ]

[june grindley]

Dear All,
Some of my white oleanders are also suffering like yours Mike, particularly after the long summer with no rain. I suspect they have the disease which seems to be around here in Provence. Does any one know if giving them some fertiliser would help now the rains are coming?

Thanks also to the forum members for confirming my suspicion that only double flowered Oleanders are perfumed.

[John]

Having just seen this I think that both the Nerium and the Myoporum are just stressed. The Nerium is probably short of sufficient moisture. I have seen similar stress in plants in the wild in NE Crete growing in seasonally dry gullies and stunted to less than 1 meter high.