A few years ago, I had some Moonflowers. I literally kept getting out of bed in the middle of the night to see if I could catch one in full bloom. I vowed then not to ever mess with a night-bloomer again. Then... one of my aunts gave me a start of her "dead bird plant". A what???? She said the flower looked like a bird had died in it. I did some research and found out it was a Night Blooming Cereus. So I've been growing it and it's about 4 foot tall. Never has put out a bud. Oh well... no big loss... I think it looks pretty neat anyhow. Then not long afterwards, my buddy at the resale shop gave me a start from his plant. I really didn't want it since I had just acquired one, but was a gracious recipient. I've been keeping it in a smaller container. The other day I notice it was putting on a bloom! Oh boy... I got all excited about finally seeing one of these much talked about gorgeously fragranced blooms. I watched it develop every day and just knew it would be soon. But did I remember to go outside in the middle of the night and check? Nope. Did I remember to even go out first thing in the morning and check? Nope. But... I did get an "after" photo this evening. "spent" night blooming Cereus flower ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) Did it have a heavenly fragrance even in this state? I couldn't tell because my nose is so screwed up today I couldn't even smell a skunk! Sigh.... why oh why do I do this to myself?
Oh bummer, the plant spent a quiet night. I wonder what night creature pollinates them? .......Type, type...... Google.... search..... search.....Oh!! fruit bats and humming bird/sphinx moths. Humming bird moths I have seen. I was walking by a swampy area with a lot of pickerel weed near work when I saw tens of hummingbirds!! Wow I thought, till someone said they were humming bird moths. :-( I have never seen a fruit bat. Alarm clock next time? Jerry
Epiphyllum oxypetalum Is this what it looked like before it looked like yours???? They only bloom for maybe an hour so when you see it you have to hop to it with the camera. We have had the whole neighborhood in lawn chairs watching this event. It was midnight party time...
Well, the first year we said, "It's going to bloom tonight We will take a picture of it tomorrow morning." Well, that didn't happen. We weren't sure if it even bloomed until it got soggy. :-D :-D Then we figured it out. If it blooms on a still night it smells all over the neighborhood. I love it. Unlike Gardenia, this flower has a soft, very gentle restful smell.
Well I know what kind of flowers won't work for me! Haha ....Awe Cheryl, That stinks! I got off work last night and I couldn't even stay up to finish a movie, I couldn't even imagine trying to stay awake. I'm an earlybird.
Jerry... I've seen a few hummingbird moths around here before... don't think I've seen any this year though. And I surely don't recall seeing any bats (and don't want to either). Eileen... maybe it blooms more than once a year? Barb... the bloom wasn't that large (that I can tell). Cayuga & Netty... I get the feeling I'm never going to see one of them bloom either... unless it's just by accident. Because I just can't see myself sitting up all night waiting on a bloom to open. Laura... I do good to make it through the 10 o'clock news most nights.
This flower brought back memories of when I was a child. My mum planted a couple of these plants and when the flowers were going to bloom, we would stay right up to mid-night to watch them. After it had bloomed, a red ribbon was tied to the leaf where the flower was and I have no idea why?!?! Normally when there is a bloom, there were about 3 flowers or more. The flowers were then removed from the plant the next day to dry in the sun. The flowers were used to make soup and I think it tasted good with all the other stuff with it. I google it and found this interesting interesting article about this plant - http://www.chikung-unlimited.com/Lungs.html Cherylad, you can enjoy the bloom on the yearly basis if you negelect the plant. After reading your post, I remembered seeing one of mine friend have it in his house and had lots of red ribbons on it. So I called him to ask him how often did his plant bloom. He told me every year without fail and the trick is to neglect the plant. Neglecting it will trigger off its survival instinct to produce flowers to propagate. After the bloom, just reward it with some fertilizers and that will do until the next flowering. Also don't water it on a regular basis. Now if you don't get to enjoy the bloom and the fragrance, you can enjoy eating it with health benefits!!!
KK Ng, Re: neglect. I agree. Most plants will try to continue it's species when it's beginning to fail.
Wonderful article KK Ng....thank you for sharing . Cherylad...I would be the one up waiting for it to bloom. I would not want to miss it. The neighbors might not want me moving around late at night thinking I was a prowler taking pictures...LOL
Thanks for that link KK... very interesting. Did you ever find out the significance of the the red ribbon? And this plant does get neglected more than the bigger one. Guess that's why it bloomed instead. From now on.. I'll neglect the other one and see if it'll put on a bloom. Who knows... maybe I will sit up all night to wait for the flower afterall. Now... where did I put that alarm clock?
Thanks all, :-D Can I give you a wake up call Cherylad? According to that friend of mine the red ribbon is for good health and luck.
