People are growing them here at present, as winters have been mostly mild for some years. Local nurseries bring them up from California to display and sell at flowering time. This one I think overwinters and propagates from their own stock. Last year I saw a display of them out in front, a little prior to flowering time. During that visit one of the owners told me about an oleander hedge at a customer's place, good enough results can be gotten here that such effects are possible--at least for awhile.

Here is a link that might be useful: Minters Earlington Nursery

My experience has been different - one that I brought home from California a good number of years ago and placed in a rather protected, reflected heat location just languished for 5-6 years before finally succumbing in a cold winter. During that period, it generated only a single flower. I would consider them to be only very marginal here and difficult to get to bloom well, if at all.

I know of no reputable nurseries in the area that sell oleander as anything other than a seasonal plant, in much the same manner they sell bougainvillea or lantana trees - it is simply not hot enough here for them to thrive.

Probably they vary. You tried one kind in one location. Zonal Denial enthusiasts are getting better results elsewhere in Seattle. A friend who likes broadleaf evergreens recently bought some small specimens mailorder from Plant Delights nursery, propagations of some that have overwintered well in North Carolina. He is trying them in his Kent garden, too soon yet to tell much.

Thanks for all the insight. I grow my Oleander in a large container and bring it in every winter. I was concerned that it wouldn't get the heat and sunshine it requires. Mine is already dripping with hot pink blooms. I hear you don't get a lot of rain in summer so that's good for it. Too much and it will yellow and drop it's leaves. I guess I'll bring it along and hope for the best. The perfume from the Oleander is intoxicating.

The Plant Delights hardy Oleander selections have done well in the Portland area. 10 degrees sent them back to their base, but they rebounded quickly once things warmed up. They bloom heavily each year.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Delights Oleander

Portland is hotter than here, of course.

I have had 'Hardy Red' for quite a few years. It has never had a problem with cold/wet (this on clay soil in Olympia); it has been quite the slow grower though. The year I dumped some cedar grove compost around it in the spring, it grew quite a bit more and bloomed. I wouldn't bother with any of the usual (i.e. non-hardy) selections of Oleander as permanent outdoor subjects here, but of course, you can grow anything in a pot if you intend to protect it from the cold, and in a spot with some reflected heat perhaps it will bloom really well.

I have another question since I've been keeping track of your posts. When you say Reflective heat, does that mean near a building? I'm not quite sure of the term. I'm just used to plopping it out on the patio in the sun.
Can you believe I'm having more of a difficult time deciding what plants to take with on the move than my furniture. Now I want to take my 10 yr. old Calliandra with too. It's like their my babies and I can't give them away. I think I decided what furniture to put in the moving van in a few minutes, I'm still sweating it out over the specimens.

On a sunny wall or surrounded by paving that warms the air more than it would be otherwise. A hot nook where walls meet, with a wide overhang can actually support the satisfactory growth and overwintering of plants that would malinger or even die in the open. Geraniums (Pelargoniums) can be overwintered in sites near the Sound this way, at least until it gets cold enough that killing frost reaches them even there. Hardy cacti are excellent subjects for such locations, as all they need is protection from winter damp.