Green Thumb: Adeniums and related plants

Adeniums are succulents, freely branching and continuously flowering in the onslaught of the summer sun.

In the proper environment, they will flower the entire year.

The caudex, the exposed root, is of a variable configuration which adds to the attractiveness of the plant. Noted hybridizers reside in our area and are known to the nurserymen in the Mideast, which is the origin for varieties of these plants. These individuals are improving the flower size and color, which increases their popularity.

Dave Palzkill is one of the leading hybridizers of Adeniums in the state of Arizona and the plants in his nursery number in the thousands. Dave has a Ph.D in horticulture and plant pathology. He has traveled extensively in Mexico and South America and has an excellent knowledge of succulents.

Attending his talk on Thursday, Sept. 18, you will acquire information on Adenium culture and other succulents and will be able to master the care of these plants with a great deal of confidence.

This is one lecture you should not miss. Dave is a sociable individual and a visit with Dave at his nursery will keep you enthralled with his knowledge and you will find it difficult to leave.

My first contact with Adeniums was at Miles Anderson’s nursery, “Miles To Go.” We are interested in unusual plants and noticed a variety of these succulents in one of the greenhouses.

We asked Miles how these plants were propagated and were told either by cuttings or seeds.

He mentioned that the pollinators were rare because of the configuration of the flower and most of the pollinations were done by the creature Homo Sapient.

Miles’ method was surgical pollination making use of an Exacto knife and transferring the pollen to a flower recipient. He also mentioned that a number of the flowers were sterile, which precluded the success by other methods.

I asked for a physical demonstration since my interest was more than cursory and it also eliminates experimentation.

A visit with another nurseryman, Gene Joseph, Plants Of The Southwest, and in an ensuing discussion on succulents, he revealed that he pollinated Adenium flowers with javelina quills and he was kind enough to provide a few of the quills. As was mentioned earlier, this method has a lower success rate.

Since we have been involved with succulents, which include cacti, for some period of time, we had the occasion to visit a small nursery that Mark Sitter operated on Ina Road West where we purchased cacti from Mark, who is now the owner of B and B nursery.

We noticed in this nursery several long beds of Adeniums, but never heard the grower’s name.

Later, when I became involved with the GV Gardeners’ plant sale procurement and encountered a problem with shortages of Tricocereus, I was told to contact a grower by the name of Dave Palzkill.

Calling Dave, I was asked to meet him at a small nursery on Ina Road and, to my surprise, the grower of the Adeniums was Dave Palzkill.

These growers that I mentioned are all closely associated and are a major source of succulents for the state of Arizona.

Dave’s talk on Adeniums will be held Thursday at the East Center, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Coffee served 9 a.m. and Master Gardeners will be available to answer gardening questions.

Green Thumb articles are written by Green Valley Gardeners with assistance from seminar speakers.