That is called Oleander. Although it is sometimes sold around here, it is not reliably hardy through the winters. My neighbor planted two of them next to her front porch and they both died this past winter.

oh, i understand they are extremely poisonous, true??

Yes, that is true. It even has it's own urban legend dating back many years.

But all humor aside, it is true that it's poisonous when ingested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fatal wienie roast

Oleanders may be grown in the Atlanta area provided they are kept in a protected area. Between walls or against the house is the only place I have seen any survive. The pink variety seems to have a better survival rate than the white ones also. Like Esh says though, they rarely survive north of Macon.

It died back to the ground this winter, but I am not sure if that was due to the weather or the dog constantly stomping on it. i was getting ready to dig the stump up and return it to Home depot last week when I noticed it was putting out new growth. 3 or 4 new leaves so far. Give it a try. It is a beautiful bush.

i'm going to chime in on this, albeit very, very late, because i accidentally found it via search, and i have pertinent details to add.

i may have just gotten lucky, but i have had an oleander on my 2nd story deck for almost 3 years now in a very large 12-15 gallon (or larger) square terra cotta pot. it's been there, 10' away from the house, left outside through the winter, through all half a dozen snows, sleets, hailstorms and ice storms this year and previous years as well, and it's doing great. i keep it pruned down to a smaller compact shape (no more than 4ft tall, 3' wide), it flowers like crazy year round, and it seems to do well.

occasionally it gets grumpy, like during last year's drought, and some of the leaves yellow and fall off, but otherwise it's done exceptionally well. it gets a good bit of afternoon sun, from around noon till at least 5pm-6pm in the evening.

i have seen others around, but not many. this one in particular is not something i planted (a former roommate left it behind), nor is it something i would have planted, but it is doing absolutely superb AFAIK.

I'm pretty sure this guy is fairly root-bound in its current pot, but not sure my deck can really handle anything much larger in size to plant it in. i don't want to put it in the ground around the house due to its poisonous nature (small kids and animals galore nearby)