Desert Roses (Adenium)

Desert Roses appear to have caught on in a big way with Malaysians. And not only with just the Malaysians, I gather, but with lots of other flower-lovers all over the world. There are companies in many countries specializing in the cultivation and sales of these flower plants, especially in Taiwan and India and these companies advertise very effectively in the social media using web pages and Facebook. They ship live plants to your door too!

My wife started planting some desert roses a long time ago but it was only a few years ago that I became more interested in them. And when I looked at some of the web pages, I was fascinated by the variety of species available. Many of them are indeed exotic!

Desert Roses, as the name implies, need a lot of strong sunlight and a little water to thrive. If the plants are exposed to a lot of rain, some of the budding flowers may just fall off. If the soil is water-logged, the roots may rot, leading to the death of the plant. But if the rot is noticed in time, we can just cut the rotten part off and the other part of the plant with part of the roots may just rejuvenate.
The plant can be grown from cuttings or seeds. An interesting point is that seed-grown plants are not genetically identical to the mother plant. This means if you obtain seeds from a plant and use them to grow, you may end up with different flowers! As such desirable varieties are commonly propagated by grafting. Genetically identical plants can also be propagated by cutting. However, cutting-grown plants do not tend to develop a desirable thick caudex (stem of new growth) as quickly as seed-grown plants.

Photos shot from commercial nurseries and some from my garden.