Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 5 Mar 2025

New Adeniums and March discount

Cat  with  adeniums  desert  roses

We received a THOUSAND NEW ADENIUMS from Thailand - beautiful, well-developed plants with big caudex, ready to bloom! They are finally available for those on the waiting list for specific colors. But hurry! Each variety is available in limited quantities (fewer than 10 per type), and they won't last long - first come, first served!

Everyone loves the colorful, showy Adeniums, and it's easy to see why so many gardeners want to collect them all! With so many varieties to choose from, picking just one can be tough. That's why we're offering a special discount: Save 10% when you buy 2 or more Adeniums! You can also add other plants to your shopping cart for a minimum $99 order and get more plants for the value!

Use this 10% discount code when you buy at least 2 adeniums, or any other plants with min. order $99:

MARCH25

Min order $99. Excluding S/H. Exp. 3-11-25

Reminder: use our FREE and DISCOUNTED SHIPPING for qualified orders

Check out video of the new arrivals of Adeniums
and available colors below

Adeniums  in  pots

Adenium  varieties  chart

Date: 5 Mar 2025

Why Adeniums are the most popular container plants

Adeniums  in  pots

What is the easiest and most showy plant for your patio or poolside?

Q: Can you recommend a compact, showy plant for a container by the pool that will bloom with minimal care and survive if I forget to water it? I need 4-5 of them... Does such a plant even exist, or is that too much to ask?

A: Surprisingly, such a plant does exist! Meet the Desert Rose - Adenium - the perfect flowering plant for low-maintenance beauty. Just look at those colors!

Why choose Adenium for your container garden?

Desert roses - Adeniums - are among the most popular container plants for both indoor and outdoor settings. Here's why:
- Easy to grow - Thrives in sun or shade, indoors, and in low humidity.
- Drought-tolerant - Requires minimal water and can go long periods without it.
- Not picky about soil and pH.
- Spectacular blooms - Produces vibrant, showy flowers.
- Unique and eye-catching - Forms a curious, swollen caudex with unusual shapes.

How many varieties and colors are out there?

- At Top Tropicals, we offer over 200 varieties of Adeniums, with more than 100 in stock at any time.
- With so many stunning hybrid colors, you'll want to collect them all!
- Enjoy double flowers, red, purple, yellow, striped, dotted, rainbow, and even black flowers!

The secret to a large, swollen caudex:

- Raise the plant slightly each time you repot it, exposing the upper part of the roots - this encourages the plant to form more roots that grow downward.
- Unlike most tropical and houseplants, Adeniums prefer neutral to hard water, have very low water needs, and can thrive in full sun or shade.

Adeniums truly check all the boxes for a carefree, long-blooming, and striking poolside or patio plant!

Adeniums  caudexes

Date: 22 Apr 2025

Low-Maintenance Bloom for Your Patio

Desert  Rose  -  Adenium  in  pot

Q: I'm looking for compact, low-maintenance plants for my patio - something colorful, unusual, and not like the boring crotons. I need several for my lanai, preferably flowering, showy, and easy to care for since I often forget to water. Do such plants even exist?

A: Sounds like you need Adeniums - also known as Desert Roses. They're perfect for patios and lanais, and they check every box: compact, low maintenance, drought-tolerant, and bursting with color. You can grow them in sun or shade, and they don't mind if you forget to water now and then. Plus, they're real conversation pieces - people collect them like art! Adeniums look like living sculptures thanks to their thick, swollen caudex.

At Top Tropicals, we grow over 200 hybrid varieties of Adeniums, and usually have 100+ in stock. You'll find doubles, reds, purples, yellows, even striped, dotted, rainbow, and black flowers. With so many options, you'll want more than just one!

Desert  Roses  -  Adeniums  in  pots

Want that iconic fat base? Here's the trick:

Every time you repot, raise the plant slightly to expose more of the upper roots. This encourages downward root growth and thickens the caudex over time. Just use a well-draining mix, water only when dry, and feed with Sunshine Megaflor Booster to support both blooming and trunk growth.

Adeniums aren't just low-effort - they're living art for your lanai!

The First Video of Exotic Adenium Hybrids

Our Desert roses - Adeniums - were planted in March - and now, at the end of April, they're in full bloom. Just look at these colors in this !

Desert  Roses  -  Adeniums  flowering  different  varieties

Date: 26 Mar 2016

Growing Exotic Adeniums

Exotic varieties of Desert Roses. Adeniums have many spectacular hybrids. The basic culture is very similar to orchids. A small pot with excellent drainage is a must. Adeniums do not like both over-watering or drying-out. There is a secret how to create a large swollen caudex: raise the plant a bit every time you re-pot it, so that the upper part of roots will be a little exposed. The plant will form more roots that will go down.

To make your plant develop a large swollen base/trunk, you'll need a good quality fertilizer. Fertilizer requirement for swelling up trunks is also used to increase flowering. It shouldn't be too high in nitrogen, the middle number should be the highest (similar to 10-50-10). Never apply fertilizer directly on roots and do not liquid feed when a plant is thirsty: always water first slightly to avoid root burn and leaf drop. Do not wet leaves. Adeniums need lots of light for heavy flowering.

Most hybrids and species start blooming in the spring when the conditions are warm and days get longer, and continue blooming through the fall and winter in warmer climates. Adeniums like a neutral to hard water. Acidic water tends to sour the soil too fast and may cause root rot. Water plants preferably in the early morning, and allow them to drink up throughout the day. Watering can be done daily to every few days. Never allow your plants to sit in a saucer of water, but don't let them to dry out too often - this causes adeniums to go into early dormancy.

Planting instructions for bare-rooted succulent plants. Position the plant in a pot, size of root system. Use only well-drained soil with high content of Perlite and/or sand (cactus mix can be used), water once and keep in warm (75-80F) place in filtered light. Do not water again until soil dries on surface. Once the plant is established and starts growing new leaves (may take a few weeks), gradually move it into brighter light. Then you can start fertilizing it.

See full list of Adeniums - plants and seeds.

Date: 4 Jun 2016

Desert rose winter care

Q: I purchased several packets of desert rose seeds last year. I now have 45 very healthy seedlings some of them in bud. Almost all of my seeds grew but I lost most of them when I rook them in during winter. I did not water them for a month , kept them in their pots and set them by the window. they either dried up and died or rotted and died. I noticed when you send me grafted specimens that you bareroot them. Is this a better way to keep them inside in winter, bareroot? I hate to lose these plants come winter time. Pls advise me. I live in Houston, Tx. where we get temps below 40 degrees and sometime a day or more of freezing temps.

A: Thank you for your question. Rot is pretty common problem with Desert Roses. We monitor our Adeniums closely and have a special set up of watering environment and schedule, in dedicated greenhouses just for them. Nevertheless - every now and then we see a rotten caudex and can't help it to say "oops! over-watered!" These plants are very sensitive to environment changes, especially when it comes to a combination of water and temperature. These are a few tips that should help you to reduce risk of plant loss to a minimum:

1) Use only well drained mix with much higher content of perlite than you would use for most tropical plants. For adeniums, we use mix with 30-40% of perlite in it, while regular mix has 10-15%.

2) Adeniums like alkaline soil, unlike most of tropical plants (hard to say what else likes alkaline... Ficus for sure!). This means, regular mix with high content of peat moss may cause root rot. To increase alkalinity, you may add dolomite. Here in Florida where we have natural supply of shell rock handy, it is easy to add some shell to a potting mix (shell sand, rather than quartz sand). We always add a few large shells on top of a pots with a big specimen. Besides increasing soil pH (making it more alkaline), shells look very decorative.

3) Water very carefully during cooler months. When it is hot (85-100F), excessive water usually won't harm adeniums: it will be partially used by a plant, and partially will evaporate. Especially be careful with water when temperatures drop below 65F - then tropical plants simply stop growing process and go dormant. Once adeniums start losing leaves, this is a sign to reduce watering to once a week to once a month, and in very small quantity (couple tablespoons per pot).

4) We do not bareroot adeniums for winter storage. They are not bulbs. Barerooting of this plant is recommended only during shipping. Adeniums can stay without soil for up to a week without hardly any stress, sometimes even longer.

5) We keep our big collection specimens on a roofed porch during winter, where level of light is very low. Last winter we haven't lost a single plant due to low light. They take shade pretty well considering minimum or no water. However bright light is always better - it creates healthier environment for a plant. We all know about space limitations for our large collections, especially in winter. So if you can afford a bright spot for adenium during winter - the plant will be lucky!

Adenium Summer Sale: 20% off plants and seeds!