A few months ago I signed up to see a plant called Queen of the Night when it was ready to bloom. I was told it only blooms once a year for one night . I really didn"t know what to expect. Well at 10 o'clock last night DH and I with flashlights in hand found our way into the dark nursery along with quite a few other people. The first thing I noticed was the smell of the nite jasmine...It was intoxicating! We found our way to the cactus and I was shocked. I had seen it many times during the day when I shopped there. It always looked old, half dead and not to promising. We turned our lights on the plant and the blooms that we saw were breathtaking. They looked like white silk and were really large maybe 7 or so inches. Brugs are my favorite but these have my heart. I hope that some of you have had the pleasure of seeing them. The owner picked one off and gave it to me to bring home for the nite. They also have an unusual smell that filled the house. It sort of reminded me of the freshness you smell after a rain storm.
I just know I am in love and I will be waiting for an evening call next year.
Meems
Queen of the Night..........Awsome!!!!!
How cool...
Did you take pictures?
the latin name for the plant that I know is called Queen of the Night is "Selenicereus grandiflorus" for a picture of one: http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:vKcHFS0Ye8oJ:www.gardens.co.nz/PlantoftheWeek.cfm%3FNLID%3D139+selenicereus+grandiflorus&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 is this what you saw Meems?
Meems, why not get a start for yourself? It's easy to grow.
Chik, I took pics of the flower they gave me when I got home. Thanks Ponditis, wonderful picture and great info. Answered lots of my questions. The one you are showing is much larger than the ones I saw. That is it though. Aimee, I don't have a green house and the nursery said they are hard to grow here. Believe me if I could I would! Sure wish I could have shared the experience with everyone at Daves.
Glad the pictures and information helped ya, Meems. I have found through the years that sometimes nurseries will say lots of things that just aren't what they are. Don't any nursery owners here take offense to this but sometimes it may be hard for the nursery to grow and easy for you in your environment. I would try one if that is where your heart is. You probably can get a start of one from someone here at DG. Good luck.
http://www.lenarealty.com/flowers/
I can send you a rooted cutting! It may take a few years to get big enough to bloom.
I have had mine for 9 years. It is NOT hard to grow, or keep. It IS hard to get it to bloom! Mine has never bloomed, I keep trying tho'.
Well,Carena, how many of those little ole rooting cuttings you got? LOL I would try if you still wanna share.
Ah Joann, I owe you for life!! I have one for you too if you want one, I'll even deliver!
Mine had thirteen blooms last year! It had to be repotted , so it is not going to bloom this year. It must be extremely root bound, and neglected in a cool room for a few months to get them to bloom. I was told they have to think they are going to die, so they hurry up and try to reproduce . I tried this and it worked for me.Lou
You got a deal, Carena, I would be happy to pick it up and you give me a tour of your garden. Do you treat yours as a houseplant with bright light? The little fuschia you gave me is doing terrific.
yes, I keep it inside. I take it out and put it in the shade sometimes. I just got it this spring so I'm still trying to figure out how to keep it happy. It looks like a christmas cactus but with monster-sized leaves. I'll let you see my yard if you promise to wait at least 5 seconds before you burst into laughter. It's definitely a work in progress!!
Hadn't seen anything as awesome as this Q of the N. *Terrific*.
Carena...Thank you so much! I don't have a green house so could I just put it in my house somewhere? I'm so excited. The pictures you posted are awsome. It shows the process perfectly. It is like they open in front of your eyes.
meems
Carena, yours is a night blooming cereus which is also known as a Queen of the Night. The hyperlink I posted is for the much larger flowered Selenicerus grandiflora. I have seen both of them blooming and they are both really wonderful flowers.
Oh! Pond you are right, and I know better!!! I did a lot of research on these about a year ago... mine is Epiphyllum oxypetalum, aka night blooming cereus, queen of the night, etc, a lot of name confusion about similar plants, mine will have smaller flowers, but otherwise it's just as wonderful, so I've heard!! here's the PDB link,
http://plantsdatabase.com/go/2443/
and if you do a DG search for NIght Blooming
Cereus, there are several threads with good info on how to get them to bloom.