Friday, September 9, 2011

Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday Under the Stars

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!

9 comments:

Judie said...

I adore the fragrance of Cereus! They open at night because they are pollinated by bats. When the Cereus' open at our botanical garden, there is always a huge crowd around to celebrate.

Birgit said...

Hi Beth,

Oh, what very pretty flowers -- and what an event, too. :) Thanks for sharing those unique photos.

Greetings from Germany,
Birgit

PS: See my U post here! :)

jenn said...

visiting from jenny's. my mother just started a blog and wrote about the night-blooming cereus. you can read about it here: http://bit.ly/pXHBSK.

Visits With Mary said...

Very interesting. I am not familiar with that plant, it is so pretty for just one night. But then the anticipation of waiting for it to bloom sounds like fun!

Pondside said...

That's quite amazing - I've never heard of this plant, but what an interesting life it has. Gorgeous flower.

Barbara Rosenzweig said...

This is absolutely stunning! My friend had one that recently bloomed, but didn't take photos. Thanks so much - and I sent her your link!

Thanks also for enjoying my watercolor.

Unknown said...

Oh, these are amazing shots of the flowers! I know my grandmother has this flower growing in her front yard. When they are not in bloom, the look rather sad and limp but are completely amazing when the flower opens up. Not to mention very fragrant. I was lucky to have been staying over with my grandmother one of the times the flowers bloomed and got to witness it for that one evening. I always found it amazing how this flower ONLY blooms ONE night and then goes on to be in the sad, limp form for the rest of the year again. Great 'U' post :)

KDL said...

Very cool, if sleep-depriving, plant. How pretty. Wish I could smell it.

Jenny said...

Oh my gosh! That is so neat! What a gorgeous, gorgeous flower!

This is really an utterly unbelievable capture. I bet there is a website to share such unusual pictures!

Was your sister sorry to have missed it?

Thanks for linking.

I really liked reading about this neat plant!

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