The Desert Rose. Keeping Adenium in our garden was something I wanted to do and had many doubts about.
The Desert Rose is not a tropical plant, they are more desert survivalists. Can I really keep them here in the Philippines? I wondered about that, but I began to see them in many places around the area. So, what the heck, if others can keep them so can I.
Conditions
A big facet that makes it easy to grow here is the amount of sunshine we get. We get a lot of sun. Sure we get some overcast periods, but unless it is a major low pressure system or Typhoon we mainly get thunderstorms, which do not block out the sun for the entire day.
Next, tailor the pot and soil choices to ensure we dont retain water and rot the roots of our plants. For our plants the pots are generally terracota and the substrate is heavily biased towards drainage. I use a lot of pumice, lava, gravel, and ensure good drainage holes.
Other issues?
Well, pests are another thing here. We have an abundance of the Green Swallowtail Moth and also Hornworms. They love to eat Adenium it seems, and they lay eggs EVERYWHERE. One infestation on a plant can deliver 20+ catepillars and they can eat every leaf from a mature plant in a matter of hours to just a day or two. When they begin to hatch, pick them off your plants.
| Scientific | Notes |
|---|---|
| A. arabicum | Bonsai, Elephant’s foot, Adanah Bush |
| A. boehmianum | Bushman Poison, (POISONOUS) |
| A. multiflorum | Impala Lily |
| A. obesum | Desert Rose |
| A. oleifolium | Bitter kambro |
| A. socotranum | Socotra Desert Rose |
| A. somlense | |
| A. swazicum | Swaziland Desert Rose |
- Adenium pests
I have had various issues with Adenium plants here. The are issues with too much rain and with the large swing of the suns path throughout the year it can be a challenge to keep them in enough sunlight. Keeping them from being overwatered is always a concern and the onlyhelper I have is to… Read more: Adenium pests - Adenium test post
testing post imbeds