[Guenther]

Is Adenium obesum suitable for mediterranean climate (wet winters) ?

[Alisdair]

Guenther, I haven't tried this interesting plant myself, but as it comes from a summer-rainfall winter-drought area I think it would be difficult to keep it happy in Croatia unless you were able to keep it completely dry through the winter. One possibility would be to keep it in a pot, sunk in the ground in summer (and watered then), but kept dry and under cover when it was dormant in winter.

[Marilyn]

A late reply to this post:
I see Adenium obesum for sale in a few garden centres here (Southern Portugal), I grow one in a pot on my balcony. I have not tried it in the ground. I did not know about the summer rainfall/winter drought cycle, Alisdair; do you mean it gets rained on at the hotter time of the year? Mine seems to do quite well under the normal Mediterranean rhythm, it is full of flowers just now, for example, and usually gives another show in the spring. However, in two years it has never put on much extension growth, perhaps the clash of rhythms would explain this.

[John]

This cultivar was on sale at many garden centres this year in London. Adenium obesum 'Anouk'.

[Trevor Australis]

I have about 20 adeniums in my greenhouse - in my Med climate garden. They hate the wet and die if it gets cold, say below 4 degrees. They rot in the roots and in the top growth so they would not withstand frosts or freezing. Yes, Alisdair is right; they come from summer rainfall areas in the Tropics and sub-Tropics. They take their generic name from Aden on the Arabian Peninsula where it is very hot, and mostly very dry but with very heavy monsoonal downpours in Summer which are infrequent. I keep mine absolutely bone dry and in sun in the greenhouse all winter. By late spring they begin to show new leaf buds at which time I water heavily and feqently with a little soluble fertiliser added every time hoping I will fool them into thinking the Monsoon has arrived. They grow very quickly and are in flower now, mid-Summer. I treat mine almost as succulent bonsai. Tho I do not find any need to root prune, top prune or repot every year. In fact most of mine, around 10yrs old, have never been repotted.

Try growing Cyphostemma's and Cissus too, the succulent, pachycaul (thick trunk) kinds . They are all fascinating plants