Darwin Adeniums ( Desert Rose )

[greysrigging]

Some good friends of mine, Anna and Sharkey, are keen collectors, growers and propagaters of Adeniums, the beautiful Desert Roses of the dryer hot tropics. They have a magnificent potted collection in their suburban back yard in Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia. It appears the hot Wet/Dry Monsoonal climate we experience ( suffer ) is ideal for Adenium cultivation

The couple are opening up their amazing collection of Adeniums and other colorful tropical plants to the general public in two weeks time through the Darwin Open Garden program. Anna does Bonsai, grafting and lifting of the roots to get the cortex above the ground.

The popularity of Adeniums in Darwin has exploded in the last 10 to 15 years with hundreds of different colors and flower types now available. The 'Holy Grail' of local growers is to achieve a 'black' flower, or as close as possible anyway....

This one is a big old mature specimen in the Darwin Botanical Gardens.

So here is a selection of Anna's flowers.....

And a few more...

 

[Silas_Sancona]

Great pictures of some great plants, Thanks for sharing!.

Have a grafted cultivar called "Purple Jade"  i'll post pictures of when it flowers.. Flowers themselves can change color depending on the temperature. Has done alright where it sits out on the patio though it got nipped a little this past winter, partially due to getting wet a few nights prior.  First tim eit has suffered any issues during the winter here since i have had it.  Had another cultivar of Adenium swazicum, a supposedly slightly more cold hardy species, that did well  also until it got fatally sunburned in 2017.

[greysrigging]

  On 5/8/2019 at 6:19 AM, Silas_Sancona said:

Great pictures of some great plants, Thanks for sharing!.

Have a grafted cultivar called "Purple Jade"  i'll post pictures of when it flowers.. Flowers themselves can change color depending on the temperature. Has done alright where it sits out on the patio though it got nipped a little this past winter, partially due to getting wet a few nights prior.  First tim eit has suffered any issues during the winter here since i have had it.  Had another cultivar of Adenium swazicum, a supposedly slightly more cold hardy species, that did well  also until it got fatally sunburned in 2017.

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By most accounts in Australia, its having wet feet in the cooler months that knocks them around. even in Darwin I back off on the watering during our 'dry season' and rarely use an overhead sprinkler, pot watering only. Not enough water, however, and they drop leaves similar to the Frangipani.  Every insect pest known to man ( well Aphids and Mealy Bug ) attacks them in Darwin, sometimes necessitating a prune which should only be done in the dry months.

We don't have your +116f temps and can't say I've seen too many growing in our hot regions of the Pilbara and North West Queensland. Do you grow in full sun or dappled shade during summer ?

[Gonzer]

Beautiful caudiciforms that unfortunately don't want to grow for me.

[Really full garden]

These are just becoming available here. I have a few and they do really well at the beach. I wish we had the spectacular varieties that are coming out of Thailand now.

[jimmyt]

Those are some beautiful ones for sure.

[Silas_Sancona]

  On 5/8/2019 at 7:26 AM, greysrigging said:

We don't have your +116f temps and can't say I've seen too many growing in our hot regions of the Pilbara and North West Queensland. Do you grow in full sun or dappled shade during summer ?

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My remaining specimen sits on a bench at the southwest corner of our covered patio where it gets lots of light. Stays shaded until about mid day most of the year, and is in dappled shade from the Mesquite / shade cloth it sits behind during the summer.  When we moved here, i made the mistake in putting them in more sun. which is how i lost the other plant + a couple seedlings i'd purchased.. Te one that survived went into the shadiest part of the yard, under the Mesquite until fall.
 
Stays dry in that spot most of the winter, except when it rained heavy enough and was breezy enough to blow water on it this year.. Grown in Pumice, some river sand, and Turface ( Calcined Clay ).   ...absolutely no organics ( Peat, Coco Coir, Compost, etc )  

In Florida, Thanks in part to the extra Humidity,  you'll see big plants in the ground in full sun, same with Pachypodiums.

 

[Tracy]

  On 5/8/2019 at 10:10 AM, Gonzer said:

Beautiful caudiciforms that unfortunately don't want to grow for me.

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While I've seen nice specimens here in parts of San Diego, I have similar problems.  I thing it is as identified below.  Too much of our rain comes in the wet season, and on the coast perhaps they want more heat in the spring and autumn, while temps remain exceptionally mild here.  Beautiful specimens posted to start this post!  I have a pair struggling right now.  Similar problems growing Pachypodium's here.  The only of that genus I have successfully grown outdoors is Pachypodium lamerei, all the rest succumbed to rot. 

 

  On 5/8/2019 at 7:26 AM, greysrigging said:

its having wet feet in the cooler months that knocks them around. even in Darwin I back off on the watering during our 'dry season' and rarely use an overhead sprinkler, pot watering only

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[greysrigging]

A few more from Anna's garden....

[Tracy]

  On 5/9/2019 at 9:58 PM, greysrigging said:

A few more from Anna's garden....

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I had no idea that there were so many flower types available.  It is like the diversity in cultivated hibiscus flowers available or plumeria flower varieties.

[Brad Mondel]

Wow! I love the yellow one and the bright red with white throat. 

[Silas_Sancona]

The many faces ( err, flowers, lol ) of my Adenium "Purple Jade" Have posted some pics of the same cultivar before in another thread.

 Aside from our brand of summer heat, which i'd have thought would intensify the color, not sure why the flowers produced here never color up like they did, every year, back in Florida ( pics. 5-6 ) Seeing how it flowers here in Arizona, ( pics. 1-4.. Color has been pretty consistent year to year here ) would never guess it were the same plant.  Spectacular for sure.

Chandler, AZ.. Late May, 2016 ( pic. #1 ) June 2018 ( pic.#2)



June 2019. Chandler, AZ. (pics. 3-4 )



Back in Bradenton, October/ Nov. 2015( pics. 5-6 )