Adenium obesum - Desert Rose

Thats- by far biggest Ive seen in ground. Its amazing to me how many times I asked if they could be grown in ground and some very famous soucal names in the C&S forums all over the net couldn't say they had tried it let alone seen any.
Look at the sand its growing in. It will never root rot.

It's definitely at home in the low desert. I'm sure there's many more growing out there. I just happen to see this one across the street from the largest clump of Acoelorrhaphe wrightii I've ever seen in California.

This desert rose was facing south and the temps was 114 degrees (officially out there). I about died taking this pic! LOL! Too HOT!!!

Hottest day in my life? 105f in Lathrop as a kid in the 1960's.
Hayward? 100f same amount of time. But,that was 30 years ago. I don't think we've hit 100f since.
This year? 90f a day or two.
Andy- have you heard? coldest August in SF since 1942. One single 70f day..many barely reaching the lowest 60's. woah..

I remember Hayward getting up to 108 to 110 degrees in the past. The year I left the SF Bay Area in 2000 that June it was 109 in Fremont...it was horrible...especially when trying to pack up boxes. I think during that heat wave Hayward had a low morning temp of 78 degrees, if I'm not mistaken (that's very hot for a morning low).

I've seen nothing but cool weather in San Francisco. I check the weather there every morning. We've actually been below normal for August, here. It's typically hotter and more humid. It's really warm, 88 and very humid right now; however, it could be much hotter. The dew point just a little while ago was 70 degrees. That's high even for San Diego.

You dont see many photos on the net Marg of big,yard grown,Adeniums. The closest I've seen out of habitat were in a giant Singapore greenhouse- where they also grew imported wild Baobabs pruned to fit. I would guess the fat trunked Adeniums were poached wild plants.
In Florida or Hawaii,they all tend to be shrubby multi trunked plants that hardly resemble the fat trunked-topped -with a stubby crown of foliage.
Funny btw,to read about the cool summer of 2016. Because just this last September we hit the hottest day ever recorded in town,108f.
TODAY..in "cold" early February we might hit 80f ( 27C)

Marguerite:

Very true. Growing condition and climate make a huge difference on how large and well a specific plant/tree will grow.

I've seen large Adenium obesum growing in the ground in pretty wet conditions in the tropics (in Hawaii). Here in San Diego they need to be very dry or they will rot even during warm weather in winter. This is because the nights are cooler.

Stan,

I was at the San Diego Zoo today. They have a new section called Africa Rocks...it's a gorgeous new area of the zoo. They planted a whole lot of new plants. There's two big Adenium obesum (Desert roses) planted. I think one is 6' or 7' tall and the other is probably 5 ft. I took pics. The larger one was flowering.

I think that any Adeniums in soucal are a relative new thing. I bet 30 years ago,nobody saw any in ground in all of soucal or Arizona. The canary in the coal mine of warmth.
I see it as- in the very best super microclimate 30 years ago,one person had them for a few years -right? FF to now and that "super microclimate" has surged all over soucal and Arizona. More chances for success because of the warmer winters nowadays.
I'm not sure why the west coast seems to be one of the greatest jumps in warming in the temperate zones. But once again in a near 2 week streak,we will be in the 70's in February.
When I was a kid (say the 1960's)? February was just another winter month.

Andy- 75f in Fremont while 69f in San Diego right now. Thats bizarre.

Today is definitely cooler. It was only 75 degrees here where I live today. However, really hot weather will return on Wednesday. Mid-to-upper 80's and maybe low 90's for Wednesday through Friday. It will remain very dry for at least a couple weeks.

Stan,

I'm not sure about "no Adeniums" growing in the ground in the last 30 years here in San Diego. In the old Sunset Garden book they were documented growing in Southern California. I'm sure many are growing in people's personal back yards or personal gardens. I wouldn't grow mine in the front yard. I would be too afraid someone would steal it. I used to see many 2 or 3 ft Adeniums for sale at Home Depot a few years ago. They were pretty cheap, also. I very rarely go to Home Depot...not sure if they're still available.

Stan,

I forgot to note this Adenium had a really fat caudex. I wish I had gotten more pics of this plant; however, it was literally 114ºF (46ºC) outside (most likely felt like 130ºF or 55ºC because of solar radiation)...and I was literally melting!!! lol!