Desert rose, or adenium, is a deciduous plant of East African origin with thick stems and bright flowers. It belongs to the Kutra family (Apocynaceae). At home, leaves can remain on the plant year-round if there is enough heat and light. It is noteworthy that Adenium is often confused with another species, the habitat of which is Egypt. Desert Rose, as this annual herbaceous plant of the Cabbage family is called, is actually a species of Anastatica hierochuntica, and has nothing to do with the Kutrovy family. Look at the photo - the desert rose is really a very beautiful and unusual creation of nature.
Morphology
On adult specimens, the stem, or caudex, becomes swollen, thick, often bizarre in shape. This gives the adenium an unusual and amazing look. Leaves are usually bright green. In the dry season, the desert rose is strewn with bright colors. The size of the adenium can reach 5 meters, but there are also such varieties that lack a small bowl in an apartment. A large number of desert rose hybrids are currently bred. They are characterized by a wide variety of flower colors - from traditionally red to striped and orange. It is worth noting that adenium is poisonous, children and pets should not come into contact with it. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap after handling the plant.
Varieties
Desert Rose is represented by a huge variety of subspecies. Let's get acquainted with the most common of them. Adenium swazicum (Adenium swazicum) - one of the most hardy varieties of desert roses. It is characterized by small size and adaptability to existence in a city apartment.
Arabian adenium (Adenium arabicum) is used as a garden plant, has a thick and powerful squat trunk. The leaves of the Arabian adenium are fleshy and dense, very similar to the leaves of succulents. Interestingly, the color of the caudex is very diverse, it can have purple and pink spots.
Adenium Somali (Adenium somalense). This species is characterized by large sizes and a powerful, expanded base of the trunk. For the first year and a half, it grows very quickly, reaching 1.5 meters in height during this time. The ambient temperature during the cultivation of Somali adenium should not fall below 12 ° C.
The most popular among florists and lovers of desert roses acquired Adenium monkeys (Adenium obesum). Other species names - Fat Adenium, Fat Adenium. It is characterized by a wide variety of leaf shapes and caudex, as well as the color of the flowers. Breeders successfully use this and create ever new hybrids of Adenium obesum.
Growing conditions
The most favorable areas for the cultivation and breeding of adenium are considered to be the tropics and subtropics. Outside these belts, the flower requires special care. Constant heat is the basic condition that a desert rose needs. The plant is very demanding on lighting. The ideal location in the apartment is at the window facing the south side. This will ensure that direct sunlight is constantly exposed to the leaves of the rose. Watering the plant should be rare. In winter, reduce the flow of water, but at the same time do not dry the soil, keep it moist enough. The soil for planting roses should have drainage and be slightly acidic. When buying a mixture for your future rose, choose the soil for succulents and cacti. Feed adenium with fertilizer every summer. In order for the desert rose to grow more interesting and bizarre, use one secret. Remove the upper part of the root system of the plant from the soil, while leaving a little more than half of them in the soil. Thus, the roots will be slightly open, and as a result of growth, along with the trunk will begin to form an interesting shape.
Breeding
Desert rose is a plant that propagates, as a rule, by seeds. They ripen in pods. Sprouting can be accelerated by spraying and periodically heating the pot from below. After a week, the first shoots appear, and after a month, when several real leaves are formed on the seedlings, you can start transplanting. A desert rose is propagated by cuttings, but specimens grown in this way may not have such thick and powerful tuberous stems as when grown from seeds. Pinch off a shoot 7-10 cm long from the stem and dip it in a solution with fungicides and hormones, for example, in the Epina solution. Then plant the stalk in a small pot filled with a slightly moistened mixture of perlite and peat in a ratio of 1: 3.
Transfer
A young plant usually needs a small pot. But as the adenium grows, it requires transplantation into a more spacious container. This procedure is necessary only in the warm season. First, make sure the soil is dry, then carefully remove the adenium from the pot. Remove old dead roots and any rot. The cuts formed during the transplantation process with solutions - fungicidal and antibacterial. Put the rose in a new pot and pour soil into it. For about a week, refrain from watering to prevent the occurrence of root rot, since adenium is very susceptible to this disease. Also, be careful and careful not to damage parts of the plant.
Desert rose in your garden
If you want to decorate your garden or yard with adenium, try to find the most sunny place for this. Desert rose, planted in partial shade, has elongated thin oblong stems and is more susceptible to disease. Land in the area intended for planting should not be too wet or prone to flooding. If there is no place with dry soil in your garden, make a mound of at least 20 cm above the main soil. It is also important that the desert rose grows beyond the reach of automatic watering and spraying systems. Together with this species, you can plant a variety of thermophilic ground cover plants. It is important to know the optimal composition of the soil mixture, which is ideal for planting adenium in open ground. Cooking it yourself is not a big deal.
This mixture includes:
- peat - 2 parts;
- coconut fiber - 2 parts;
- sand - 2 parts;
- perlite - 1 part.
For the first couple of years, the desert rose is growing very fast. At this time, it is important and necessary to supply the soil with organic and mineral nutrients. Later, growth slows, and that's normal. In spring and summer, liquid fertilizer must be applied every two weeks. And during the fall, the fertilizer application rate needs to be reduced.
Get this wonderful flower. Desert Rose will help to decorate a room or revitalize the look of your garden.