Adenium Short Story: A Survivor

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Posted by @Rainbow on
So, for the first time ever, I sought information about the desert rose. Oh my . . . I was loving it to death!

One day, many years ago, a kind lady gave me a desert rose. It had a rather large stem and root ball so I transferred it into a bigger container to give it room to grow more roots and to grow taller. It lived outdoors in full sun and got water from rains. And there it stayed in the same pot and spot for a long, long time. It had endured neglect and numerous tropical storms. Every once in a blue moon I would remove the weeds and give it some fertilizer. Though it grew taller and the stem grew stockier, its branches only grew laterally and became skinnier. The plant bloomed year-round, but sparsely.

Then last June 2014, I gave the plant my full attention. I pulled out the weeds, including a stray ironwood tree seedling, gave the plant plenty of fertilizer, and moved it to a spot under the roof eaves to catch lots of rainwater. A month later… no new growth and the branches got soft and droopy. So for the first time ever I sought information about the desert rose. Oh my! I was loving it to death! I immediately un-potted and found a humongous caudex that had rotted! I removed all the rot, hard-pruned, dried, replanted in a shallow container, and placed it in a sunny spot.

Five months later, by Christmas-time, my Adenium obesum (new term for me) put forth a prolific profusion of coral blooms. It survived!

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This photo was taken in March 2015. By then the glorious display of blossoms was spent. The large pot was his old home; next to it is Bilibong thriving in his new home. My chubby 4 lb. BabyK is there as well for reference.

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Here he is on Mother’s Day 2015. The kind lady who gave me the plant recently visited and told me this desert rose was 15 years old at the time it was given. That was 16 years ago, and it was a cutting, not seed-grown. Bilibong is 31 years old. He is thriving and happy!

✿ Happily Ever After ✿

And the beginning of my passionate Adenium adventure...

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Comments and Discussion
Thread Title Last Reply Replies
Beautiful Story by GigiAdeniumPlumeria Jun 7, 2018 2:41 PM 18
Untitled by irlara Sep 23, 2015 11:49 AM 1
Rooting by quilterdi Sep 13, 2015 9:20 AM 1
Untitled by donnabking Sep 12, 2015 6:33 PM 3
your chi looks like mine so much they could be twins by goodgirl61 Sep 10, 2015 6:26 PM 1

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