It is not a pretty plant! My sister would tell me stories of an event that would occur in her home. She would arrive home from work and be smacked in the nose with an unbelievable fragrance. She knew what was happening.....The Night Blooming Cereus was getting ready to bloom.
I became the lucky recipient of this gangly looking cactus when my sis moved from PA to Hawaii. I've had it for two years (almost). It sits on my windowsill during our frosty, cold winter months. When spring arrives, out it goes, to sit in my garden under the Redbud Tree.
Well, It happened! One day seven blooms appeared. I wondered would it happen that night. You see, this plant only blooms in the darkest hours of the night and only blooms for one night. I checked all night, afraid to go to bed and miss this event. It didn't bloom til the next night. It was like watching slow motion. It started to swell around 9PM and continued to open fully around midnight.
I enlisted the help of hubby (he was the flash light holder) while I snapped the pictures. Just to let you know, the flowers measured about nine inches round and had the sweetest fragrance that permeated the yard. Who would imagine that such a spindly looking cactus could produce such magnificence!
