Friday, February 7, 2014

ROSE BY ANOTHER NAME POPULAR


Adenium Show, Anderson  Botanical  Gardens , Townsville
Adeniums – also   called   Desert Roses – are   popular   in  North  Australia.  Kept in  containers , they look like  Bonsai  plants.  Planted   in  the  open  and  allowed  to  grow  as  they please,  they   can  form   large  features,  varying   in  shape.  This writer’s  wife   bought  Adeniums   shipped   to   Darwin  from  Singapore soon  after  Cyclone  Tracy.  Over  the  years , cuttings  from  a   large one  went  to a   nursery , friends, interstate.   It  is  different  to a  lot of  the  modern  Desert  Rose  plants . A Yellow-breasted  Sunbird , below , chasing insects and  seeking  nectar, likes  briefly  resting  on  a  spindly Desert  Rose.