Oleander

Oleander has been grown around the Mediterranean and Gulf for centuries specifically because almost nothing stops it: full desert sun, long drought, poor soil and salty water all leave it largely unbothered, and it rewards that neglect with months of flowers in white, pink, red or yellow. That toughness is exactly why it became a default choice for highway medians, screening and hedges across the region, including in the UAE.

The reason it now needs a clear warning label is straightforward: every part of the plant — leaves, flowers, stems, sap, even smoke from burning the trimmings — contains cardiac glycosides, chiefly a compound called oleandrin, and ingestion can cause serious illness in people, pets and livestock. Even chewing on a leaf or twig has sent people to hospital, and the sap can irritate skin on contact.

In October 2024, Abu Dhabi's Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA) issued Resolution No. 4 of 2024 banning the cultivation, production, propagation and trade of oleander across the emirate, citing risk to children and pets, with a six-month window for existing plants to be safely removed. As of September 2026 there is no equivalent ban in Dubai, so oleander remains legal to plant here, but the same reasoning applies: keep it well away from anywhere children or pets have access, and never burn cuttings.

In the landscape it works almost exclusively as a mass planting rather than a single specimen — a hedge, screen or windbreak rather than a feature tree — because its real value is the density and continuity of bloom it gives along a long run rather than the character of any individual plant. It takes hard pruning and shearing well, regrows quickly, and tolerates reflected heat from paving and boundary walls better than almost anything else on this list, which is part of why it became the default choice for so much roadside and perimeter planting across the region before its toxicity risk became a stronger planning consideration.