This is the night-blooming Cereus plant.
I was given a cutting of this unusual guy from dear friends that have since moved down to Tennessee from Pennsylvania. I have kept them updated on the growth of our unusual "pet", including the long branch that grew and grew and has finally shot out a couple of new leaves. You can see this "growth" in this photo:
Bob told me that you will know when it is going to bloom, but I really expected this to have happened last week, as the "pod" was getting bigger and bigger and I really had no idea how much bigger it was going to get!!
This morning at 11.55am, it was looking like it might be going to do something soon. So I took another photo (just in case):
... and 9 hours later:
How big is this flower? Here it is - in relation to Calum's head!:
Isn't mother nature wonderful?
.... unfortunately, we've been warned that the flower will only last for tonight. The beautiful perfume, which I assume in the wild would attract night-time pollinators, will not be present by the morning. We'll just have to wait again for the next exquisite emergence.
What a difference a day makes?
Try just 10 hours!
Well, I guess I have to go to bed. Just wanted to share my little bit of joy for the day!
'Till next time,
Shona
