[gardeners] Caught a night blooming cactus flower in bloom!
Carol J. Bova (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sat, 14 Jul 2001 00:39:49 -0700
Hi Folks!
I finally caught one of my night-blooming snake cactus plants right after
it opened! It will be limp and drooping by morning... which is when I
usually discover them. This afternoon, after realizing I missed one bloom
last night, I noticed another bud was very pregnant on a second plant, and
here it is tonight!
http://www.bovagems.com/gfx/gems/cactus%20flower%207-13-01.jpg
This is from a cutting from a plant that used to grow on a swamp oak behind
my parents' old house in St. Petersburg, FL. It would send out roots into
the oak leaf mulch at the base of the tree and spread out at the base of
the tree in long, branching sections, hence the name snake cactus. It also
would climb up the bark, and was about 30 feet high. I remember visiting
one summer and seeing 30 dinner plate size blooms all open up and down the
tree. Quite a sight! My plants are just twiglets compared to the mama
plant... one is maybe 2 feet long, the other 3.
My mom must be smiling down from heaven tonight. She used to stay up every
year to get photos to send to me. Now I finally caught one of my own. <g>
Carol
Midnight in Sunland, CA