Desert Rose

Adenium obesum

“Swollen caudex. Blazing pink flowers. Thrives in conditions that kill everything else.”

The trunk base — the caudex — swells into a fat, water-storing bottle, sometimes wider than it is tall. From this alien form emerge clusters of vivid pink to deep red flowers that look completely wrong on something so drought-adapted. Native to the dry regions of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, including Socotra. Grow it in full sun, very little water, and extremely fast-draining soil. A succulent tree that rewrites what trees are supposed to look like.