When you first see this plant, you might not think of 'rose' quite yet; if it isn't flowering, the Adenium looks like a miniature tree with its squat, silver-beige trunk and sprouts of glossy, mid-green leaves. When it blooms, though, you'll see why it's called the Desert Rose. Its five-petalled flowers blend deep, fuchsia-pink at the edges to white in the centre, like heritage roses in appearance but without the thorns! Its glossy dark green leaves are deciduous, so don't worry if it drops them and enters dormancy if your home is cold in winter! It likes bright light and warm summers, which will increase the chance of flowering, and can be trained to handle harsher sunlight than most by getting used to it gradually through exposure. Slow growing in its natural habitat, where a millimetre of diameter is equivalent to about a year's growth, they can grow a little quicker in ideal indoor environments, but it will still take a few years for them to get a metre or more in height. **Scienti