Thank you, forum members, for sharing and answering my
questions. And it is about time that I also share.

“BILABONG”

Many years ago, I was given some plants. One was a gorgeous Gardenia bush—I was delighted! But because of my naiveté, it did not survive.
Another was a desert rose that had a rather
large root base. I potted it up into a
huge container to give it room to spread its roots and to grow bigger. He stayed outdoors in full sun and got water
from rains. There he lived, in the same pot
and spot for 15 years. Every once in a
blue moon I would remove weeds and give fertilizer. And though he grew taller and stockier, his
branches only grew laterally. He bloomed
year-round, but stingily.

Then last June, I gave him my full attention—weeded, gave
plenty of fertilizer, and moved him to a spot under roof eaves to catch lots of
rain water. A month later: no new growth
and branches got soft and droopy. So, enter
internet research . . . Oh my, I was slowly killing him! I immediately un-potted him and found a
humongous caudex that had rotted. I removed all the rot, hard-pruned, dried, replanted
in a shallow container, and placed him in a sunny spot.

By Christmas-time, Bilabong
put forth a prolific profusion of coral blooms—he’s alive! (Unfortunately, pictures were not taken at
that time.) The large pot in these
pictures was his old home; next to it is Bilabong thriving in his new home. My chubby 4 lb. Chihuahua is there as well
for reference. I guess Bilabong was
maybe a 10-year-old cutting when I got him, and is now 25 years old. So, there will be no coddling for him; probably
did not even like being made to pose for the pictures.

Happy Ending!

And the beginning of my passionate Adenium adventure . . .

-bong