Night Blooming Cereus

Five People and a Queen

| Flower Roberts

The first thing that happened was the Cereus ‘Queen of the Night’ plant that I gave to my friend, Palmer, had sixty buds on it, many of which bloomed last night.

His wife, Lucy, was with me in the mountains, so he was texting photos of the angelic blooms to his wife well after dark. The unusual thing about that is these sixty blooms are the third round of blooms on Palmer’s Cereus plant. Palmer is a plant whisperer.

Palmer the Plant Whisperer

I have been admiring a fabulous garden that I pass several times each week, so I finally had time to pull over and leave my card in the mailbox with a note asking if I could write a post about the exuberant garden.

More about this garden in next post.

The gardener and I have been texting back and forth for days. We decided to meet for lunch on Labor Day(today) at a restaurant near her home. I took Lucy with me to lunch.

I told this new friend, Alice, that I would bring her two of my favorite potted plants to add to her collection. The two plants were Queen of the Night/ Night- blooming Cereus/Epipyhllum oxypetalum with the angelic white blooms and Epiphyllum orchid cactus ‘Over the Top” which blooms pink.

A baby Cereus plant for my new friend, Alice

As we ate lunch, we three shared the photos that Palmer sent of his Queen of the Night blooming and Alice was excited about adopting such a glorious type of plant. I have blogged on this Cereus before and have stated many times that if an angel were a bloom, it would be a Cereus bloom.

Palmer’s Cereus blooms

Since Alice saw on my blog that I did decoupage, she wanted to show me a lamp made by her late mother-in-law using a reverse decoupage technique. She had just moved her sister-in law, Opal, into the house next door. It was Opal’s lamp. I was very interested in seeing it, so we went to pop in on Opal to get a look at this reverse decoupage.

Here is when the universe showed itself!

The lamp was decoupaged with a large picture of a Queen of the Night bloom.

Reverse decaupage lamp

There were gasps and waves of goosebumps. We hugged each other knowing fate had brought us four together with an assist from Palmer and his cell phone. I had to go home and lie down because the connections were too complex to be coincidence and I needed time to process all the events leading up to the magic.

Orchid cactus bloom

You do the math. Palmer’s plant bloomed last night. Lucy was staying with me, so I got to see the pics. Alice met us for the first time today. I brought her a Cereus as a gift. Her sister-in-law, Opal, just moved here with the lamp that has a Queen of the Night bloom on it.

WOWZA!

FLOWER

Cereus Cuttings

| Flower Roberts

If you have ever seen a Night Blooming Cereus in flower, you will want one.

My Wondrous Cereus

My friend Madge, The Fairy, gave me my plant years ago. Since then I have shared plants with others. I have read about several ways to root cuttings. Last fall I tried several methods and all were successful. The new way was just cut pieces and stick them in water. I do this with other plants but usually harden off cacti and succulents and then stick them in quick draining soil. There are warnings about some cuttings rotting in water.

Here is proof that Cereus pieces root instead of rot if places in water.

Now I potted the pieces and will let them adjust to being semi-dry.

FLOWER does not always believe what others tell her.

Early Start on Fall Tasks

| Flower Roberts

Fall is a busy time for anyone who collects seeds and cuttings. It is also a time to prepare house plants to go back inside. I have been doing my fall tasks early this year. There have been busy years when no prep was done.

This Ric-Rac has not been trimmed in three years. It will get a good cut and cleaning today.

These traumatic falls involved my whole family hastily hauling in all house plants the afternoon or evening before an early freeze. This resulted in bringing in stow-aways such as worms, spiders, and lizards. The unprepared plants were too big and crowded. Air flow is essential to prevent diseases. Crowding results in deaths over the winter.

This epiphyllum is a tangled mess from neglect. Unhealthy parts will be removed.

House plants grow quickly while outside in the sun and rain. They get so large that they must be pruned and purged. This is also a good time to take a last batch of cuttings. Succulents and cacti pieces need to lay flat and callus over. I keep them separated and oriented in paper bags.

Hoyas need purging also, but do NOT cut the ends off. New blooms form there. Remove whole shoots and root them.

Purged pieces that are unhealthy are composted.

These pieces were damaged, diseased or deformed.

After several weeks of callusing, the pieces of plants may be potted and sparingly watered.

Cuttings from (L to R) Ric Rac cactus, Dragon Bones Cacti, Night Blooming Cereus, Epiphyllum(red), Pencil cactus, Hoyas

I am getting my supplies for mixing my rooting medium of potting soil, perlite and orchid mix for these cuttings. Good drainage is essential to prevent rotting instead of rooting.

I give away or sell these new plants once they are established.

FLOW in fall

September Plant Surge

| Flower Roberts

It seems as though the garden celebrates its survival through the summer in September. I know if I can just keep plants alive until now that they will experience a second wind. My new Oxblood Lily has shown up to celebrate fall.

Oxblood Lily

I am glad that I am home to enjoy this last little splurge of garden flowers.

Thomas Edison dahlia

The blue ginger has finally settled in after years of struggle. It bloomed last year but is much healthier now.

Blue Ginger

The Life Saver plant, Huernia zebrina, is putting out many blooms and buds.

Life Saver Cactus

Even the Night Blooming Cereus is budding one last time.

The dahlias are blooming as well. I am glad they survived another summer of neglect.

Firepot dahlia

I guess all living things breathe a sigh of relief as cooler and wetter weather moves in. I am glad to be home for a bit.

FLOW in fall

Waiting for the Last Bloom

| Flower Roberts

I have missed so much this summer. I was determined not to miss the last bloom of my precious Night Blooming Cereus. It is one of my magic plants. It reminds me there are still miracles.

I missed its first bloom several weeks ago. The second set of six bloomed Friday night. I was blessed with one last bud at the bottom of the plant. Tucked behind another spent bloom, I almost did not see it.

It turned up its neck yesterday to form a pipe-like shape. This signals it is ready to bloom.

I prepared the space for my late night visit by putting a lawn chair in the proper place. I set a flashlight by the door. Set out my camera and phone.

I quietly descended the stairs around 9:30PM. I thought that I might be a bit early, but it had all ready started to open.

I sat patiently in my chair listening to the insect orchestra accompanied by the quiet percussion of a light rain. Becoming hypnotized by the gentle swaying of this angel-white bloom in the breeze.

I was spending time with a living treasure that marks time by blooming only once each year.

I thought of the other years I had sat in the dark with this plant waiting for its miracle and wishing for other miracles. I am grateful for this green beacon in my garden. Making me pause and wait. Making me wonder. Holding me in its time and place.

There could not be a more beautiful flower.

FLOWER

My Wondrous Cereus

| Flower Roberts

I saw the most beautiful sight I have ever seen last night in my garden. I witnessed this wonder alone at midnight.

I consider this plant a miracle. I believe its flowers are a living link to something magic and cosmic.

My friend The Fairy(Madge) gave me this dream of a plant. I thought of her and my father last night as I sat under the stars watching these blooms quiver with energy. My daddy sometimes exclaimed “How could heaven be better than this?” I cannot imagine that, Bop.

I knew this second blooming from this plant was coming. That has never happened before. The buds turned up like pipes and started expanding two days ago.

When I saw the shape last evening, I knew this was the night. I was determined not to miss it, so I set my alarm. I could not go to sleep. I decided to go sit beside the plant in the dark and wait.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum

Its flowers were almost fully opened. They were quivering. There was no breeze. The blooms have their own energy.

The white, threadlike stamen form a tunnel through the flower.

The opalescent pistil has a strange star-shaped end.

The flowers are as big as my opened hand.

The back has finger-like sepals that splay as the bloom opens.

What wondrous, glorious blooms this “Queen of the Night” has!

Night blooming Cereus/”Queen of the Night”

How could heaven be better than this?

FLOW in the GLOW

The Queen and the Cactus

| Flower Roberts

The surprises just keep coming here. This post was supposed to be entitled ‘Catching a Queen’ but something else happened out there in the dark last night. I would have missed it, but I assigned Mr. Flower night duty. I went out around 9:30PM to catch the late bloom of the “Queen of the Night.” I caught myself dozing while waiting. I knew if I fell asleep, I would have no blood by morning due to the mosquitoes.

I asked Mr. Flower to catch later photos when he finished watching television. This was a fortuitous move because when he went out late in the night, he noticed that his fifty-year-old Giant Cactus (given to him by his grandmother) which is beside the Night Blooming Cereus was ALSO blooming that very same night.

So here we go with the Queen and the Cactus blooming side by side. It was not a full moon, just a 50% quarter moon. The two plants must have been communicating. They are touching each other and tied to the same deck pole.

Here is the Queen alone at 9:30PM. Click to enlarge.

Notice the base of the large cactus to the left.

Here are side by side photos and Queen late in the night. Cactus left. Queen right.

Cactus bloom open
Queen bloom open

Cactus side view left. Queen side view right.

THIS is what makes my heart sing. Catching a Queen and a cactus blooming on the same night. My thanks to Mr. Flower for the assist. This Flower needs her sleep!

Flow

Missing a Miracle

| Flower Roberts

I had been paying attention to my Night Blooming Cereus plant.

Its buds had elongated days ago. They turned up like pipes earlier than expected.

I knew that the eight buds of this ‘Queen of the Night’ would open soon.

I missed it last night. I went to bed early. I got up at 1:30AM to get water. It never occurred to me to go out and peek over the deck railing.

Spent blooms of Night Blooming Cereus/ Queen of the Night/Epiphyllum oxypetalum

When I saw the white skirts of petals this morning I knew I had missed it.

Seven blooms have opened. Tears were shed.

This plant bloomed for the first time ever, two days before my precious daddy died.

Queen or Angel?

There is still one bud unopened. I saw something curious through my tears. Three NEW little buds.

This plant has never bloomed twice. Maybe that is the miracle. Maybe I did not miss it after all.

Flow

The Cactus and the Moon

| Flower Roberts

We had a big day yesterday here in the USA.

A total eclipse traveled across the country from Oregon to South Carolina.

My family drove down to an empty field in South Carolina to experience it

with the crickets, cicadas and roosters.

I wanted to see what nature would do.  People are too noisy.

Insects and birds reacted as if on cue.  It was lovely.

The adventure did not end when we got home.

My husband’s cactus knew it was a new moon, too.

After thirty years of waiting and one “dud bud” last August,

it finally bloomed. It had one big ruffly white flower.

I saw it was about to open last night, while I was hanging laundry in the dark.

IMG_3309

Mr. Flower and I teamed up to produce these photos at 5:30 AM.

IMG_3324

He stood on a bucket and I held the flashlight.

IMG_3322

We enjoy the simple things here. The sun disappearing, hearing panicked roosters screaming, hanging laundry in the dark, a flower blooming before dawn…

You know, the real stuff.

MoonFLOWER