Flowers 2 to 3-in. Blossoms are red, pink, salmon, yellow and white. Seed pods may follow. Caution children against eating leaves or flowers, keep prunings and dead leaves away from hay or other animal feed. Don't use wood for barbecue fires or skewers.
Smoke can cause severe irritation.
All parts are poisonous. Chief insect pests are yellow oleander aphid and scale insects. One disease is bacterial gall, which causes blackened deformed flowers and warty growth and splitting on branches. Prune in early spring to control size and form. Cut out old wood that has flowered.