Adenium swazicum in the ground

Credit: Andrew Deacon

Flowering shrub Adenium swazicum

Credit: Nick Helme

Adenium swazcium flowers

Credit: Bernard Dupont

Pink flower Adenium swazicum

Credit: Joseph Haymans

Adenium swazicum, the rarest of desert roses

Feel like doing a good deed? Grow an Adenium swazicum! In its native Mozambique, this variety of plant in the Apocynaceae family is in danger of extinction and is the focus of a conservation program.

How to recognize the desert rose, Adenium swazicum?

Adenium swazicum is a semi-succulent shrub with an upright habit and deciduous foliage. In its natural habitat, it can reach a height of two meters and a spread of 75 centimeters.

The trunk is covered with gray or brown bark and crowned with short, thick branches. Its soft, swollen base serves as a water reservoir.

Sessile or sparsely-stalked leaves grow in a spiral at the tips of the branches. Obovate, they measure up to thirteen centimetres long and three centimetres wide. Their upper surface is bright green with light-green veins. The underside is lighter green and slightly pubescent.

This desert rose blooms from its second year. The flowers bloom in cymes at the tips of the branches, often appearing before the leaves. They consist of five wide-open petals, fused together to form a tube at the heart of the flower. Their color ranges from old pink, almost mauve, to the deepest red. The heart is always darker.

The fruits of Adenium swazicum are capsules joined in pairs. They contain the seeds that enable the plant to multiply.

Like adenium obesum, Adenium swazicum is toxic if swallowed. Keep it out of reach of young children and pets. Indeed, the sap of desert roses contains alkaloids, a substance that causes digestive, nervous and cardiac disorders. It can also be irritating on contact. Remember to wear gloves when handling your plant!

Our maintenance tips

You can propagate your Adenium swazicum by sowing or cutting. Sowing produces a plant identical to the mother plant. With cuttings, your new specimen will not develop a caudex.

Watering

Allow the substrate to dry for about five centimetres before watering. Use non-calcareous water, such as rainwater. Moisten the soil without soaking it.

Wait for the water to drain through the drainage holes before putting your plant back in its place. Empty any water stagnating in the dish. It may rot the roots.

Spray

Your adenium swazicum hates wet foliage. You must not mist the plant.

Repotting

In spring, transfer your Adenium swazicum to a larger pot, so that it can continue to grow.

Get a pot with holes larger than the root ball of your Adenium swazicum.

Adenium swazicum appreciate a light, draining substrate. You can plant your specimen in potting soil for cacti and succulents. You can also make your own growing medium by mixing equal parts potting soil and a draining material such as sand, perlite or pozzolan.

Place a layer of substrate at the bottom of the pot. Plant your Adenium swazicum in the center. Then add potting soil. In young plants, the caudex grows better when buried. If your plant is less than four years old, bury two-thirds of it. If it's older, you can leave it on the surface.

Water generously to facilitate rooting.

Fertilization

You can stimulate the development of your plant during its growth phase, in spring and summer, with fertilizer.

Use a cactus and succulent or Mediterranean plant fertilizer to encourage the growth of your Adenium swazicum.

Prune

After flowering, cut off the spent flowers. You can do this by hand, or use a clean, sharp tool such as a pair of scissors or pruning shears.

Seedling

Prepare a light, draining substrate, for example 50% potting soil for cacti and succulents, 25% pozzolana and 25% sand. Pour your mixture into plastic cups.

Plant your seeds, covering them with two to three centimetres of substrate. You can put several seeds in the same pot.

Sowing is done in the air. Place your pots in a mini-greenhouse or cover them with a bottle or translucent plastic bag.

Mist the substrate regularly to keep it moist. Don't forget to air the pots a few minutes a day.

Cutting

Cutting is carried out during the strong growth phase, generally in spring and early summer.

Locate a healthy, flowerless branch. Cut a section with several leaves about 10 centimetres long. Use a clean, sharp tool to facilitate healing.

Leave your cutting to dry for 24 to 72 hours, until a callus forms.

Prepare a pierced terracotta pot. Block the hole with a pebble and lay a bed of gravel. Pour in a substrate composed of one third potting soil, one third soil and one third sand to promote drainage. Plant your offshoot, tamp it down and add a layer of sand to the surface.

Place your new succulent in a bright room, but without direct sunlight and with a temperature of at least 18 degrees.

Between two applications of water, check that the substrate has dried out, as you would with a mature plant.

Diseases / Threats

Aphids

Mealybugs

Information

Family	Apocynaceae - Apocynaceae
Type	Desert rose - Adenium
Species	Adenium swazicum - Adenium swazicum
Lifecycle	Perennial
Foliage	Deciduous
Exposure	Sun
Substrats	Calcareous earth Humus soil Sandy soil
Planting methods	In pots In tubs Bucket
Categories	Shrub Interior Flowery Succulent
Tags	Flowery Fritillary Toxic
Origin	South Africa
Hardiness (USDA)	12a
Leaf color
Flower colors