Desert Rose Care: How To Grow Adenium And Pot It Beautifully

The desert rose, Adenium obesum, is a succulent from the dry regions of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, grown for its swollen trunk and its trumpet-shaped flowers in pink, red and white. That thick base, called a caudex, stores water, which is why the plant forgives a missed watering far more readily than too much. Give it the brightest spot you have, ideally a sunny window or a patio in full sun, and bring it indoors when nights turn cold. Pot it in a gritty cactus or succulent mix, water deeply only when the soil has dried out, and cut back sharply in winter when it rests and may drop its leaves. Terracotta is the classic choice because it breathes and dries quickly, and LBE Design's Rancho ceramic planter comes with drainage holes and a matching saucer.

Growers often raise the caudex a little higher each time they repot, and a shallow, wide container is what shows that sculptural base off. Shallow bowls also dry out faster, which suits a plant that hates wet roots. Kelly Wearstler's Dune Planter Bowl for Serax and Campania's cast stone tabletop planters give it a low, earthy stage, and Jonathan Adler's Dora Maar Low Planter, hand cast from aerated cement, adds a surreal face. Our Boat House's Florence bowl is rustic copper, so treat it as a cachepot: keep the plant in a plastic nursery pot inside and lift it out to water. Always tip out any water that collects in the bottom soon after watering.

Once the plant has some size, it deserves a planter with as much personality as its trunk. Jonathan Adler's Scallop planter has a petal motif around the lip and is handcrafted from aerated cement, and Lulu and Georgia's Hourglass Planter can be flipped to suit the plant. LBE Design's ceramic pot sits on a natural teak stand with a wide, low body, which lifts a small Adenium closer to the light on a windowsill. Kelly Wearstler's Mesa pot for Serax is the statement piece for a patio. If a planter has no drainage hole, use it as a decorative outer pot and keep the plant in a draining nursery pot inside.

Most of these plants die from kindness, not neglect. Too much water in a pot that cannot drain rots the caudex from the inside, while a thirsty plant simply wrinkles a little and recovers after a drink. Wear gloves when you prune, because the milky sap is toxic, and keep the plant away from pets and small children. If you take one thing away, choose the pot for drainage first and looks second, or use the good-looking one as a cachepot around a plain pot that drains. Give it sun and patience, and it will reward you with flowers. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together How One Clear Pot Became a Whole MAC Lip Gloss Family and What Pink Lipstick Learned From a Pot of Black Honey.