Alabama croton - a marvelous, rare shrub

The Encyclopedia of Alabama calls Alabama croton (Croton alabamensis) one of the rarest shrubs in North America.

So I felt pretty lucky to see it in person on a recent trip to the Huntsville Botanical Garden:

One of the things I had heard about Alabama croton was that the autumn foliage took on shades of electric orange. As you can see, the plant seemed to be fully leafed out in its new spring foliage, but I was able to find a lingering orange leaf, and it still looked fantastic on April 1st. I think the green foliage is pretty awesome too!

I realize that this photo would be more useful if it had a person in the picture for scale. Sorry about that. Please take my word for it - this plant (or clump of plants?) was about 7 feet tall at its highest point by perhaps 12 feet wide. As you can see, the foliage is pretty dense. I'm glad I saw this shrub in person, because the photos I'd seen online made it look as though the foliage was very sparse, but here I'd say the foliage is dense enough to offer good screening potential. 

All in all, I was sufficiently impressed that I'm going to try adding an Alabama croton to my garden this autumn. (I try to plant most shrubs and trees in autumn.)

I've seen photos online (from NCSU) of the plant apparently thriving in Knoxville and Brooklyn, so I believe it should be able to take a Nashville winter without any problems.

PS - Deb at Deb's Garden really likes this plant too!

Travel Report - Berlin Mystery Shrub?!

Unknown mystery shrub in a planter box on Berlin street. Can anyone ID it?

Well, they say travel broadens the mind.

But sometimes it just mystifies the mind.

At least that was the case when I came upon this landscaping shrub on the Berlin streetscape - in a prominent spot on Museum Island to be precise.

Anyone have a clue as to the identity of this mysterious (to me) shrub?

Close up on Berlin mystery shrub flower. Does this help any plant sleuths out there?

Detail of mystery shrub seedpod. Surely this must jog somebody's memory?

Update 10/28/14 - After cross-posting my "Please help with plant ID!" request to Google+, I received help from a few friends over there ( +Eric Hunt, +Tatjana Tijan and +Teresa Schoellkopf) letting me know that this is most likely Oleander -- or more scientifically, Nerium oleander, as Lynn points out in the comments below. As I wrote to Eric, I was kind of amazed that Berlin is using the shrub for street landscaping, considering its poisonous reputation, but Eric told me that in fact oleander is used heavily in California as a landscaping shrub, and Tatjana chimed in to say that it also grows in profusion around the Medtierranean. Teresa then mentioned another potential drawback with oleander, saying that her experience with the shrub in Galveston, TX leads her to believe that it has an aggressive root system capable of breaking through PVC pipe and damaging sewer lines. Yikes. Do you think folks should still be planting oleander given these drawbacks and the fact that it seems to have few ecological benefits? 

Have You Seen These Bushes?

Foliage on one of the mystery bushes living next to our house.

These bushes have been minding their own business ever since we moved into our home nearly two years ago.

Here's more of a 'big picture' shot. The two bushes closest to the camera are (I believe) the same. The one further away is different, I think. The one farthest from the camera gets blue berries, fyi.

They do not do anything spectacular, but they seems tough, reliable and very happy living next to the house with Western exposure - yet in the shade of a large crape myrtle.

New winter growth emerges red-tinged, later changes to green.

I have no idea what the bush might be, but I'd like to know, because it seems kind of bulletproof so far.

As you can see, the new (winter) growth is kind of reddish. I'd estimate its size as 1-2 feet tall and maybe 4-feet wide. Any ideas what these might be?  Thanks in advance for any suggestions!