Adenium obesum - Desert Rose Flowering

Looks like a nice flower. But it doesn't ring a bell with me.

It's a tropical desert flowering plant. It's not easy to grow out of a subtropical, tropical climate. It would need a hot, dry greenhouse especially in winter.

Here's my large plant flowering back in early May.

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/305292-adenium-obesum-desert-rose-flowering/tag/adenium

I see from the comments after the photo, you posted a link to above, that it does well in a SW facing window - perfect - as our kitchen window faces SW! I find it difficult to get anything to grow well in it as the sun (when we get it) is so strong that it burns the foliage on some plants & it really heats up with the sun so I have to remember to look often at the few plants I have there to make sure they don't dry out & end up burnt to a crisp!

I sometimes bring my plant indoors for a very short time (only 3 or 4 days). If it stays indoors for any length of time the flowers and leaves fall off. I've never grown any of my Adeniums indoors because they need a tremendous amount of light and heat. All my plants are in my back yard all year and face south...so they receive a lot of sun and warmth all year.

I've read some comments lately stating this plant isn't a very good house plant. I have a feeling people water them too much which causing them to rot. They must remain dry all year...winter is especially critical or they rot and die very quickly.

I put my A.arabicum outside about a month now. It always give me the feeling its on the verge of disaster. It has had roots and limbs rot off at different times over the years,still pulled through. A.obesum didn't. When they went bad,it was over fast.

Stan:

I wonder why your A. arabicum is not doing so well. Is it getting too much water? I'm also wondering why you can't grow A. obesum outside during the summer and why it dies. That's very strange!

My A. arabicum is doing so well, the caudex has gotten so large in the last couple of years--it was purchased the end of February 2013 (I had to look when I purchased from a GoY pic). I had to transplant it out of its old pot this spring. It was bursting out of the pot literally, from the girth of the caudex. It has flowers on it right now.

I did have a couple of potted Obesums for a few years Andy. One was a seedling with a nice golden trunk. I left it out too long in late fall..and it collapsed. The other did well but was so pest friendly. It died indoors from ..too dry? Too dark ? I think it was one of those cloudy months in winter we get.
So,I cant describe them as easy. I would say they are not forgiving. Good care for years,can be wiped out with one mistake.

The Arabicum held on. But,we will see if it goes past 8" pot sized. Its so slow,I don't see it outgrowing that pot.
But,it lives..has a couple of flowers and calls it a day .

I guess it's more of a challenge to grow it up there. Here they're very easy. Just don't give it too much water in summer or winter, because it's truly a desert plant.

I just noticed my A. arabicum is bursting out of the pot I transplanted it into this past spring. It only has a few flowers, though. I noticed all Adenium species like shallow pots with very free-draining soil in hot sun. I've only had my large A. obesum burn once...this was during the big heat wave that killed my Plumeria obtusa 'Singapore'... 13 hours straight of above 100ºF (38ºC)...several hours above 105ºF (40.6ºC) and humidity levels in the teens. It was in Sept of 2012. It caused a tremendous amount of damage to many of my plants.