When planted in the ground, they can be successfully grown in Z7. I have one that has braided stems, to form a tree and a friend has one that is several years old, in the middle of his front yard, unprotected. The standard species form can become quite large. I have seen them in downtown Savannah, GA that are at least 15x15ft. There is a dwarf form, which is planted in the median of I-95 through GA, that only grows to about 5x5ft. in size. I doubt that animals would be interested in this plant, as it is one of the most poisonous plants in the world. But humans don't have the sensitivity to avoid toxins. Placed near the South facing foundation of a heated building and covered with frost cloth, burlap or a "shrub coat" and protected from cold winds, you might be successful in growing them as a garden plant. For insurance, take cuttings before first frost and root them indoors, for planting next year. Rb

So daffodils love compost, the question is does compost love daffodils? The toxic compound in narcissus, and more broadly in Amaryllidaceae, is an alkaloid, common name lycorine. It is widely distributed in the plant, more concentrated in the bulbs. It is known to be quite toxic to mammals, including humans, and poisoning cases from eating leaves/stems etc. are documented. It has been implicated as a growth inhibitor in higher plants and some yeasts, but was also found to be a promoter in other yeasts. While I couldn't find anything specific about lycorine degradation in composting, plant alkaloids (the class that includes many well known recreational chemicals) are typically consumed under thermophilic composting conditions at temps > 130 ðF. I suspect that many spent daffodils, lilies, amarlysis, etc. have been composted over the years without problem, so I suspect you're safe. I would not, however, be surprised to find that daffodils and their cousins decompose a bit more slowly due to possible microbial inhibition from the presence of lycorine. While I wouldn't be surprised I haven't seen anything to suggest that's the case, and I never heard of a problem composting any of those plants.

Welcome to composting discussion tari . Much has been writen about the nessity of balancing browns and greens and you will find a lot of discussions here if you search. Despite all the hoopla,I have found the longer one composts,the less importance they attach to figuring ratios and instead put more energy into looking for compostiable materials. One of the more experienced members here on GW regularly reminds us that compost will happen,with or without being fussed over. All the materials you mentioned are good for composting and are close to the 30 parts carbon C (brown) and 1 part nitrogen N (green) considered ideal while green. If you put them in a bin and did nothing for one year,chances are when you dig into the pile a year later you will find exelent compost. If you sprikle water on the pile during dry weather and stir,flip,turn or otherwise incorperate air into the pile occasionaly,you will have ready to use material much sooner. Toss in some aged cow or horse manure and it will happen even a little quicker still. All those same materials you mentioned will have far less N once they die and turn brown but still have enough to eventualy compost. One of the few mistakes is making a pile consisting of mostly high moisture,N rich green because it can get nasty and stink. Normaly one would add kitchen scraps,bone meal or other N rich material to the fall leaves to get better balance. I have an abundance of ground that alows me to plant clover in early fall. The clover is green from late fall to early summer and not only enriches the soil while growing but is also a ready source of N when hearvested and added to fall leaves.

To kill oleanders - and I took out a historic district hedge with clumped trunks a foot or more across - have them cut off at ground level and the stumps ground. They MIGHT resprout, but the tender new shoots are susceptible to glyphosate. Just spray any you see, as soon as you see them. I think the effect on other plants is because they cast dense shade, and their root systems effectively monopolize the water. And the leaves are thick enough to act as weed-preventive. I get some weeds growing under the oleanders where it's sunny, have a Lady Banks' Rose growing next to the oleanders (talk about a battle of the titans), and I've seen hedges with lawn running up to the base of the plants, so there is probably no toxin being given off.