Friday, February 22, 2013

Adenium obesum - Desert rose

I've always thought of Adenium obesum (Desert rose) as miniature Frangipani (Plumeria). The strong resemblance is in the bare fleshy stems carrying terminal leaves and bunches of flowers. Both have thick succulent stems which exude a milky sap when any part of the plant is cut. But here the similarity ends, as the stems of the Adeniums grow increasingly in girth, thereby earning its moniker 'obesum'.

The Chinese consider Adeniums as  auspicious plants. 

As if mindful of their obligations and duties, my Adeniums bloomed right on cue, just in time for the Chinese New Year. It is framed by the fan-like leaves of the Licuala grandis (Fan palm).


This has chilly red flowers and white corollas. It is always the first one to flower. I take this as the harbinger of the Adenium season when the weather is warmer and dryer. 

However, throughout the CNY period this year, it has been raining cats and dogs . Certain parts of the city were flooded.


 Blooms last up to a week if placed away from direct sunlight. The uprighr blades of Walking Iris is to the left.

The petals are thick and feels velvety while the white corolla is covered with fine hairs and this extend to the stamens too.


 
This photo of the Adenium plant was taken about 18 months ago. 
This was taken about one year later. As you can see from the two pictures above, Adeniums grow slowly.

At the moment, about 8 months later, the only two branches have grown longer. It looks leggy but I let it be as it always seems to be blooming. The Calamansi plant is from two CNY seasons ago. Fruits are scanty as they have been harvested for adding zest to drinks and food.
 

This variety is white with radiating tongues of red from the centre towards the edge of each petal.

 
The flower is basically white, trimmed in black and red. 


As the flower matures, the white portion gradually turns to pink


while the black trim turns to dark purple.



This has a pink lavender hue and a deep red to maroon corrolla 

 
In the pink variety, the stamens and stigma appear to be fused together.

A single seed pod has many seeds. Tufts of hair are found on each end of the seed.


Year of the Water Snake (2013)
A pink Adenium obesum to signify the celebration of the Spring Festival according to the Chinese solar-lunar calender. The double-headed snake bangle is from my sister's antique silver collection.

 

31 comments:

  1. I have never seen the Adenium before with its rich colours, no wonder it is considered auspicious. Your photos of lovely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've other varieties of lighter colours, but when I came back from my CNY break, the caterpilars have eaten flowers, buds and young leaves.

      Delete
  2. Kwiaty są piękne i czerwone i różowe. Różowe mają ciekawie ułożone płatki. Bransoletki są niesamowite. Pozdrawiam.
    Flowers are beautiful and red and pink. Pink petals are curiously arranged. Bracelets are amazing. Yours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Giga, there are many other colours including white and yellow. Later I would like to acquire the double petals too which look like camelia.

      Delete
  3. Hi..lovely flowers and lovely photos..banyak koleksi adenium you ada...macam pelik juga CNY hari hujan setiap hari...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Suka suka, terima kasih. Saya suka cuaca yang mendung tetapi tak suka air hujan dan banjir.

      Delete
  4. The red is really red... very nice and clear pics...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lrong. I suppose the redder the better to keep up with the red colour theme for the CNY. As I've mentioned above, my Adeniums are very cooperative. The white ones have not bloomed yet, still in buds. So, you see what I mean.

      Delete
  5. Beautiful as usual. The desert rose would seem one to keep close by over many years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its a great plant to keep and to pass it on like a heirloom piece, that is, if we do not kill it by overwatering.

      Delete
  6. Beautiful collections and nice timing for CNY.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Another delight for the eyes with all these beautiful images of the Adeniums.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad that they are as delightful to you as they are to me.

      Delete
  8. Oh I didn't know there was such a variety of colours. Mine has grown quite long and leggy and I would love to prune it back to start off more branches lower down the stalk - have you ever done this?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I have done this many times for my older plants (2 ancient specimens were stolen). In fact it gets bushier and you can always propagate more by rooting the cuttings. However, be careful not to trim too low down as the cut ends can become frayed and even rot. The risk of this can be rectified by painting the trimmed ends with fungicide and keeping them dry.

      Delete
  9. Adenium in so many great colors! Beautiful! Have a great week, Stiletto!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pure white one just bloomed today. I hope that the unusual heavy rainfall this past week does cause the soil to be waterlogged. I'm worried about root rot.

      Delete
  10. Wow, what a gorgeous flower! The one trimmed with black and red is SO vivid, especially the first picture you posted of it, it looks almost unreal :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The wow factor was the push for the purchase when I first set eyes on it. The black trim is reminiscent of the black tulips story when tulip was the craze in Europe many hundred years ago.

      Delete
  11. Oh quelles jolie fleures!!

    Et votre blog ussi est tres jole ! Et mentanan tje suis votre nouvau membre !!
    Et j`espere que mon blog vous allée aimer aussi !!

    Bonne semaine!

    xxx Maria xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh what lovely flowers!
      USSI and your blog is very jole! And mentanan tje am your nouvau member!
      And I hope that my blog `you went too love!
      Good week! (Google translation)

      Hi Maria,
      Thanks for dropping by and leaving nice comments. I appreciate that you are my latest follower. Have a good week too.

      Delete
  12. I thought the bright red is outstanding, but when I saw the white trimmed with red and black, it is a total 'knockout'!!
    Very nice photos, love the lavender ones too :)
    Was your puppy peeing on the plant? ;)
    Thought that was so cute, lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ash, I concur with you that the black-trimmed flowers are really stunning - that's why I have to open my wallet to enable ownership :)
      I wish my puppy could pee, then I do not have to add any fertilizer. Tasha has to retire for the night, so its when this little fella take over :P

      Delete
  13. Beautiful shots!!! We have these plants here. The Desert Rose is gorgeous. We just have to protect it from our chilly nights:) Love the reds:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the compliment. we have to protect the flowers from extreme heat if we want to enjoy it longer. Reds are most commonly planted here.

      Delete
  14. Such a beautiful blooms! Lovely!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Malar. They should be even more bushy if I had been more diligent in applying fertilizer. There are too many plants vying for attention (excuses, ;) excuses).

      Delete
  15. I have one dessert rose plant in my collection and it’s one of my favorite flowers. Recently my local nursery has been selling several different color plants and I’m thinking that is time to add more to my collection.
    You have a beautiful blog and the photos are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words and for dropping by. I'm quite certain that you will have no regrets with parting good money for them. They are worth your every dime :)

      Delete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...