Galveston is moving to reclaim an old, old nickname. For decades, past generations knew it as the Oleander City, after the hardy tropical plant known for its brilliant blooms and effortless profusion. The moniker faded as severe storms took their toll and the city’s landscaping grew more diverse, but a new public-private partnership aims to put Oleander City back on the map.
“They’re very colorful—something that you would expect to see on an island, in my opinion,” local real estate agent Kimberly Gaido, one of the project’s coordinators, told Chron. “They’re salt-worthy. I think they’re the perfect match for Galveston.”
At last week’s meeting, Galveston City Council voted to accept a $100,000 donation from the International Oleander Society, which plans to plant roughly 1,000 plants around the city beginning with 25th Street, one of the city’s main north-south arteries—or “from the bay to the beach,” as the initiative’s supporters like to say. Half of those funds come from a $50,000 challenge grant from Galveston’s Park Board of Trustees, which oversees the city’s marketing and tourism-related affairs. The community gladly chipped in the other half.
“One of the other things I’ve been working on really hard in the last six months, and will continue to do, is trying to spend most of the park board’s effort on bringing tourism here [and] things that also benefit the locals,” Park Board CEO Marty Miles told Chron. “If the locals don’t benefit from the tourism, then it’s a waste—and in fact, it’s a negative.”
An ‘immense flower garden’
Galveston’s association with oleanders predates Texas’ statehood. In 1841, 20 years after the U.S. Navy ran notorious privateer Jean Lafitte off the island, local merchant Joseph Osterman brought the plants over from Jamaica; they thrived in the salty air and sunny climate and quickly became closely identified with the bustling island city. By 1897, a visiting correspondent for a Plattsburgh, N.Y., newspaper wrote that oleanders “grow in wild profusion,” reaching heights of up to 20 feet and “giving the city the appearance of an immense flower garden.”
Oleanders were among the first plants to return after the 1900 hurricane devastated the island, as members of the Women’s Health Protective Association recognized them as one of the few species suited for the island’s otherwise unforgiving soil. Over time, oleanders’ genetic adaptability produced countless varietals named for prominent Galveston citizens, including members of the dynastic Kempner, Moody and Sealy families, as well as notable non-island figures such as the late First Lady Barbara Bush…