Looking for a show-stopping low-water succulent? Give desert rose a try! This sun-loving plant is ideal if you don’t want to water your succulents frequently and want something different than the conventional spiky, prickly succulents.
The desert rose resembles a bonsai, with a strong, swelling trunk (which stores water during droughts) and gleaming, dark green foliage. The spectacular, trumpet-shaped flowers, which come in colorful colors of pink, white, purple, and red, are the true draw. Bicolor variations, double-flowering varieties, and variegated foliage varieties are frequently found.
Desert rose makes a lovely annual (in the north) or perennial (in frost-free areas) landscape plant, but it’s also a great tropical plant for container gardens. Desert rose is a great companion for cacti and other succulents no matter where you grow it. It does not resist winter because it is a tropical plant (temperatures of 32F or 0C).
In our new free cacti and succulent guide, you’ll find more information on how to grow and decorate with desert roses.
How much sun does a desert rose need?
Q: Last summer, I purchased a lovely desert rose shrub. I transplanted it into a terra cotta pot and placed it in a protected location to avoid frost damage. I just realized the sturdy stem is soft and squishy now. What went wrong, and what can I do to prevent this from happening again?
A: The Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) is a lovely and exotic-looking plant that needs very little care. The overall shape is akin to a well-trained bonsai tree, with an expanded trunk base and twisted limbs. Simple five-petaled flowers emerge in many shades of pink, white, red, and yellow in the summer.
In the summer, the Desert Rose thrives in full sun with regular watering. When the temperature drops to 55 degrees or below, you should drastically reduce your watering. It’s best to use a terra cotta pot because it allows water to drain fast. When repotting, use a cactus mix and avoid using a pot that is too large.
If your plant is being watered on a regular basis by seasonal rain, you may wish to relocate it to a dryer place. The plant will rot if the soil is damp for an extended period of time.
How big does a desert rose get?
Desert rose is a low-maintenance succulent that blooms in the summer with dozens of trumpet-shaped flowers in pink, rose, or white.
It, like many succulents, prefers light, warm, and dry circumstances.
In retail garden centers, the desert rose (Adenium obesum) and its various hybrids are frequently seen. Flowers range in size from 2 to 3 inches across and can be single, double, or even triple. The plants require at least six hours of intense light per day to maintain their abundant flowering.
The desert rose is a stunning specimen for a deck or patio, but it is normally cultivated in containers that can be moved inside for the winter because it is sensitive to temperatures below 40 degrees.
This can be grown as a tiny shrub in South Florida gardens.
Overwatering can cause root rot, so be careful not to overdo it.
Your desert rose will grow to be four or five feet tall, with the bottom portion of the trunk, known as the caudex, widening and swelling.
Scale can be a problem for desert roses; keep an eye out for these small pests so you can swiftly solve the problem if your plant starts to suffer. Desert rose is vulnerable to oleander caterpillars because it belongs to the same family as oleander. Plants may droop slightly in the winter, but they will re-leaf once the cold season is over.
Is The desert rose poisonous?
A semi-succulent shrub or small tree up to 3 meters tall with thicker lower stems and a swelling base that is cultivated as a garden decorative. The bark is grayish and smooth.
Flowers are funnel-shaped, 5-lobed, and grouped at the ends of branches, and are white, pink, or red in color, typically pale with a darker edge.
Leaves are leathery in texture, spirally organized, and grouped near the ends of the branches. They are 5-22cm long and 0.5-6cm wide, with the broadest part above the middle (obovate) or oblong or elliptic in shape with a rounded apex. Hairy or non-hairy leaves are available.
Fruit/Berries: The fruit are tapered pods that are borne in pairs, are grey or grey brown in color, 15-16cm long, and contain long thin cylindric seeds with tufts of long silky golden-brown hairs pointed at either end.
Symptoms: The entire plant is poisonous. Slow heartbeat, low blood pressure, tiredness, dizziness, and stomach distress are all possible symptoms.
How do you look after a desert rose?
Taking care of the desert rose Desert rose, like other succulents, requires constant watering, especially in hot, dry conditions. In the spring and summer, use a water-soluble or liquid fertilizer diluted to about one-third of the label’s suggested strength to encourage flowering.
- Plant bug scales come in a variety of shapes and sizes. If you discover that your plant is infested with one of these pests, a treatment with neem oil insecticides should suffice.
- Adenium may also be harmed by oleander caterpillars. If you see caterpillars on your plant, take them off by hand (use gloves) and treat the plant as soon as possible with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt). These caterpillars can quickly defoliate your plant, so don’t be alarmed if this happens. Once the caterpillars have been eradicated, the plant will immediately regrow fresh dark green leaves.
- Anthracnose, a fungal disease, is sometimes a concern for Adenium. Anthracnose is most likely the cause of tan lesions on your plant’s leaves, which later become yellow and fall off. Don’t become discouraged. This illness usually strikes in the early summer or autumn and goes away on its own. Reduce the amount of water you use and rake up the fallen leaves to get rid of the fungus spores. Your plant should make a full recovery.
A single specimen of one of these tough, long-lasting plants can provide a lifetime of gardening pleasure. They can be used in the landscape, in containers, as bonsai, grafted together, grafted with oleander, and even planted upside down to produce visually interesting forms and displays.
Long-lived Desert Rose is one of those plants that becomes a family member. These plants can survive and grow for decades in the wild and under optimal conditions.
The care that these fascinating plants require provides a touchstone for the change from season to season in regions with cooler climates.
The plant blooms in the spring, relaxes in the summer heat, blooms again in the autumn, and hibernates in the winter. You’ll grow to consider of this unique botanical specimen as a dear friend as you care for and appreciate it over the seasons and years.
Is Epsom salt good for desert roses?
Epsom salts are highly recommended by rose producers in particular. It not only makes the foliage greener and lusher, but it also generates more canes and roses, according to them. To apply Epsom salt to existing rose plants, either mix 1/2 cup of the salts into the soil surrounding the bush and water well, or dissolve 1/2 cup of the salts in water and use to moisten the soil around the rose bush. This is best done in the spring, when the buds are just beginning to open.
How fast does a desert rose Grow?
Adenium obesum (desert rose) is a slow-growing plant that only grows around 12 inches each year. Its wide succulent trunk, thin and delicate leaves, and rich, deep pink trumpeting blossoms make it a popular bonsai plant.
What months do desert rose bloom?
During the spring and summer, desert roses bloom for several weeks. Some new and improved cultivars may bloom all year if properly cared for. Be patient once again.
Can a desert rose live indoors?
Desert rose (Adenium obesum), a native of eastern and southwestern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, with a woody, bulging stem called a caudex that helps it store moisture during dry periods. It features large, brilliant red, pink, and coral blooms that bloom throughout the wet seasons in its native climate. Desert rose can be grown outside in USDA plant hardiness zones 11 to 12, or it can be grown indoors as a houseplant.
What happens if you touch a desert rose plant?
Within 12 to 36 hours of exposure, the first signs of Adenium obesum poisoning would appear.
Reduced heart rate, low blood pressure, drowsiness, gastrointestinal difficulties, and dizziness are all signs of desert rose poisoning in humans.
Because the sap of the plant penetrates the skin, it causes skin irritation and poisoning when it is handled.
Desert rose causes severe stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in cats, as well as loss of appetite, excessive drooling, lethargy, abdominal cramps, and lack of coordination.
You’ll notice dilated pupils, a variable heartbeat (too fast or too slow), low body temperature, seizures, tremors, and eventually death in more severe cases.
Anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, sadness, excessive drooling, and mouth and throat ulcers are some of the symptoms of poisoning in dogs.
Furthermore, if the sap of the plant gets into touch with the animal’s fur, blisters and skin irritation might result.