My 2 cents: I overwinter Adeniums that regularly see temps in the upper 30's. They are not "bone dry". Bone dry means root death. With dead roots, any plant is much more likely to rot in the spring because it cannot deal with the sudden moisture. This is probably a common scenario among amateur growers, and we end up blaming temperatures and plants not being cold hardy enough. Use a sensible substrate to avoid dessication, and automatically any plant is healthier and able to cope with dormancy. I don't have 100 Adenium. I have about 7 or 8 adult plants and about 20 seedlings/ young plants. So my sample size is not great, but enough for me. I haven't put my socotranums out into the same cold though because I'm not sure they can take it. And A somalense are also not as tolerant of cold temps. But A obesum are pretty tough plants. Incidentally, some of them maintain a firm caudex, and some don't. I think it may depend on the individual plant's genetics, just like flower color can be different. Nobody here is, or claims to be, an expert. This forum is for sharing info. If someone disagrees with someone else, then go ahead and offer your opinion and experience. There's nothing wrong with that. There's no need for huffing and puffing. It's just a gardening forum for god's sake.

Yes, this is my very first trip to the main land of Africa, actually I had visited Madagascar, a big island east of Africa, two times. South Africa, I think, a great place for your lifetime, especially for the safari experience, 5 stars lodge among wildlife, one night in the Palace of 'Sun City', good wine, whale watching from your room and certaintly, botanizing in Karoo desert with a lot of succulent plants around you. I used to many times close to the elephants, but never without any fence like this !!!

Sorry, never done it myself, but I do know a serious grower in Tucson who starts their seeds in AeroGardens ("counter-top" hydro set-ups). I would be curious to know how you plan to handle their dormancy? And do you have any pictures to share?

Hi there Sue and Karyn, great to see you posting about DR's. I think they are amazing plants, I really hope I can get one to flower at some point for me!! These guys have really been through the mill to get to this stage, earlier in the year I thought they were gonners, but the heated propagator bought them back from the brink of death. I started some others from seed a few weeks back but only got 3 to germinate this time....don't know what I was playing at as I later realised I'd had them too wet and too hot so they just rotted away....drat, a silly mistake to make. Karyn, how old are your seedlings that are blooming? These in the pics above were sown on 10th Feb '08. Would love to see some pics of yours if poss? Your new seedling with the variegated leaves looks really interesting...keep us posted on its progress please? Regards, Gill.