How The Atomic Bombs Made The Oleander The Flower Of Hiroshima
By KIMBERLY SMITH
History - Science
World War II introduced the use of nuclear weapons. On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and the second on Nagasaki three days later.
Both cities were annihilated, and more than 200,000 people were killed. Everything within a one-mile radius was destroyed, and the fallout spread for miles.
The damage from the bomb was so bad that Harold Jacobsen (who worked on the Manhattan Project) suggested nothing could grow in such conditions for 70 years.
Yet, a few months after the bomb was dropped, plants began to sprout. Weeds were seen growing later that year in the autumn, and oleander flowers bloomed the following summer.
Oleander is a resilient plant that needs little water and can adapt to different soil types, which might account for p why they were able to grow so soon after the bombing.
In 1973, the oleander was chosen as Hiroshima's official flower and tree because of its “source of strength and hope” for the locals. Oddly enough, oleander blooms around August 6.