My red epi is ready to bloom... to be followed closely by the first (this year) bloom of Epi Oxypetallum.
My Epi blooms 2004
Here's the Queen of the Night bud...
I just got a whole bunch of Epi cuttings (and even some rooted!) from Gourd. I'm really looking forward to other colors next year!
Very nice, Darius. Will you stay up late and photograph the Epi bloom for us again when it opens? Also, how big is your blooms. I've heard that some can be as large as a dinner plate. Here's a cute picture that someone posted over at GardenWeb:
Clare... I doubt they'd be any different that the series I posted last year to the PDB, Epiphylum Oxypetalum. You have to click on the link to see all the photos to find my series, but they start from bud to full bloom, over several hours from about 10 PM to the wee hours.
I'd say my "Queen" blooms are about 6-8" in diameter on this plant, although this year may be different as I divided it last year and then moved it 100 miles to a new home.
The red one blooms day or night, and lasts a bit longer than Queen.
Thanks, Darius. If I remember correctly, the Selenicereus grandiflorus has the largest flowers of this type and is the most hairy. Currently, I am looking for a Epiphyllum crenatum. You don't have that one do you?
My friend Don (Tropicman) sent me cuttings of his Epiphyllums. His Epiphyllum oxypetalum has bloomed four times this year. His pictures are over at the PDB also: http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/2666/
My Epi.....
That's a beauty, Roselaine.
Are these plants supposed to be in full sun? I have a couple but don't know what to do with them. Thanks.
Don't know what's "right" but mine get diffused sun/light shade on the deck in the summer. Of course, they winter inside with as much light as I can manage.
Honestly, though, they spent from February to the middle of April in the cool and dark basement here at my temp. housing, I watered them about pnce a month, along with 3 brugs and a few lantana I was trying to save (and did).
Hi Shirley,
I have most of mine in hanging baskets under this tree and a couple more near the back porch. They need lots of light (dappled or under shade), NO FULL SUN, the sun really burns the leaves. Make sure they have good drainage, fertilize and mist almost daily for the best growth. I leave mine outside all year and just them closer to the walls of the house so they don't freeze during winter.
You lucky duck. Wish I could leave something outside for the winter. LOL! Thanks. Not knowing, when I brought mine out of the greenhouse, I would have put it in full sun. Glad to know not to do that. Maybe it will come out today. We are actually supposed to get up to 90 today. The greenhouse might get a little warm.
Here's the red epi, fully opened today.
And tonight may be the night for my Queen of the Night... the bud looks pretty large today.
OH...I want that red one..lol.. wow..
please post the white Queen of the Night when that blooms, how exciting.....
These are the baskets of epies as of this morning.. the photo above was from Feb sometime.. so they have grown quite a bit, I don't know if you can tell from the photo.
edited to say: gosh, I almost took an identical photo, now that I see them side by side.. wow, that Blue Dawn just covered that arbor real quick there.
This message was edited Jun 7, 2004 4:43 PM
Antoinette... I'm rooting a red one for you already.
I LOVE how you hang yours in baskets. Wish I had a place both inside and outside so I could do the same. Maybe when I get a new house of my own again...
It's doubtful I will stay awake to catch the Queen in full bloom... I'm no longer a nightowl, LOL. (But, I WILL check it just before going to sleep... just for you.)
Antoinette, wow! Your yard certainly filled out since the first picture, and your epi's have definitely grown too. Your yard looks great!
Watch out for that Ipomoea indica. It sends runners out that root wherever the ground is moist. I had to yank mine because I could no longer control it.
I have mine in baskets too.
This is one of your cannas today, Antoinette.
Clare,
Your baskets look great. Wait till you get those blooms, I had one branch that was almost touching the ground already. I cut some of it into cuttings, the dogs run around too close to the baskets and roll around on the grass under them.
Glad the canna seed did well for you.. some of mine are blooming now, I still think Red King Humbert is really neat and Tropicana.. This is the other side of the arbor..
Darius, thank you for doing that for me.. I appreciate it, and I just love that red..and the size looks nice too.
Okay, folks... Queen bloomed earlier than I expected, so I have NO opening shots... just these.
It's too bad that the flash obliterates so much of the bloom detail but I don't know any other way to get night photos.
Closer shot...
Another...
Oh my lord, that is beautiful.. wow, it looks huge.. it knew that it better do something before you went to bed..lol.
edited: P.S. Goodnight..
This message was edited Jun 7, 2004 9:52 PM
Last one... I'd say the bloom was at least 9-10" across.
I just re-read the posts:
Roselaine, yours is gorgeous, I don't know how I missed it earlier, I must have been way too excited.. do you know it's name? wowowww.
Darius, are these the ones that you can smell? neither of the couple that I had open have had any fragrance. Well, you have had one wonderful day/night.
Yes, it IS very fragrant, and Yes, ir has been an eventful day, LOL!
Wow, Darius, you should add that last picture to the Plants Database. It's a beauty and so large! Thanks for staying up and posting it:-)
Antoinette, your garden is gorgeous! I have the lightweight, polyurethane containers exactly like those:-) When my epi's are big enough to share, I'll save you some cuttings. I have Paradise, Inauguration, Francis C, and Saigon, thanks to Tropicman who sent me cuttings. I also have a cutting of Epiphyllum anguliger, called Ric Rack Orchid Cactus. I believe Inauguration is red.
Check out this link: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tropical/msg0419190026246.html
This is supposed to be Inauguration:
Clare... I want tro be on your list, too, when cuttings become available!
Here's the link to the full bloom last year of the white epi: http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/23946/ I don't think the last photo above is any better except maybe it shows some scale.
Gourd: I'm rooting a piece of Queen for you too... so you will have a fragrant one!
darius, certainly. Perhaps we can trade for a cutting of the one that just bloomed. Mine are still pretty small as you can see by my empty baskets, but when is a good time to take cuttings? Should I take them early so that the young stems will grow bushier?
Clare... this is the first time I'm trying to root cuttings. My Queen was a cutting a neighbor gave me (just a leaf) in late August 6-7 years ago. I just stuck it in some dirt, per her advice.
It took a couple of years to grow into a real plant, and I've since dicided it. I have just trimmed mine, and have the stems and leaves I cut off in potting soil, so I'll know soon if that works at this time of year.
Thanks, Darius. I bet it will work for you. Tropicman sent me some leaves from his plants, and I just stuck them in the baskets above. They sat there all winter and did nothing, but now they are starting to actively grow. I even tor a large leaf into thirds and planted them, and now all three pieces are growing more leaves.
Darius, how long did it take from a cutting to flower?
Clare, I think it flowered the 3rd or 4th year... but you need to know I had NO idea they needed fertilizer then.
LOL, thanks, Darius. Sigh...three or four more years to go then:-)
In about three years, just think, we can all trade each other..lol.. we should have quite a variety.. These are such gorgeous flowers that it is hard to resist, they are so special. And so little work too, I just love them. I am dying to get the Oxypetalum.. just to smell them..
Antoinette, yes, it's a date! I've just started a few cuttings of the Epiphyllum oxypetalum also. I am really interested in the fragrant ones. I'm currently looking for Selenicereus grandiflora and Epiphyllum crenatum: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/54130/index.html