It looks like The Queen of the Night will arrive in October here in Northern California. This two year old plant wasn't very happy earlier in the year after spending last winter in an unheated greenhouse, but has taken off and hopefully will hang onto these buds and flower within a couple of weeks. Here it was earlier this summer http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=1511050 and now.
Until it actually blooms I am just making the assumption that it is E. oxypetalum. It's companion plant which is a year younger shows no signs of blooming this year, but has probably doubled in size over the summer months.
I misjudged the+effects of our mini heat wave, which prodded The Queen into blooming before I expected it!
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Oo-oo-ooo-oo! How BEAUTIFUL. I'm curious....is there only 1 "brand" of night blooming cactus? I don't have one (yet!) but all the pictures I see of them blooming are always white flowers.
Betsy
The Queen is dying, long live The Queen!
A mere 8 hours after opening this beautiful bloom is on its way out, taking its subtle sweet perfume with it. Even with the garden filled with the aroma of hundreds of Brug blooms with their night perfume, this flower's scent was still strong and pleasantly sweet.
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Morning Betsy.......what a long night. Whew!
Sat up most of the night with this pretty thing......this one is Epiphyllum oxypetalum and is a good example of why using scientific names for plants is important. Many plants are commonly known as "Orchid Cactus" or "Night Blooming Cactus" or "Queen of the Night".
I'm not sure about all of them being white, but it seems that most are. :-)
A couple of Google image searches:
http://images.google.com/images?q=night+blooming&hl=en
http://images.google.com/images?svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&q=night+blooming+cactus
And a PlantFiles search:
http://davesgarden.com/pf/adv_search.php?search_type%5Bcommon%5D=contains&searcher%5Bcommon%5D=queen+night&search_type%5Bfamily%5D=contains&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&search_type%5Bgenus%5D=contains&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&search_type%5Bspecies%5D=contains&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&search_type%5Bcultivar%5D=contains&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&search_type%5Bhybridizer%5D=contains&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&Search=Search&searcher[common]=Queen%20of%20the%20Night
The pics are beautiful. I think that is one of the prettiest night blooming epi's that I have seen. Is it fragrant?
Thanks for the links on all the night bloomers. I new there were some but had no idea that there were that many night bloomers.
Yes, it has a lovely sweet fragrance!
Happenstance..
Thank you for staying up all night "babysitting" so we could enjoy your beautiful pictures! Just gorgeous. thanks, too, for the links.
Betsy
The second one opened last night right at 10PM again.....wilting by 7AM, so pretty though short-lived. That's it until next year!
Great pictures, Candy! What lovely flowers. I too have a bud forming now, which will probably open in a couple of weeks. It's on the one that Ursula sent me! I am very excited!
I admit that I've been playing with my plumerias all summer long, but my one hybrid has been blooming steadily for me since spring. It is still covered in buds, and I get a few every night. The flowers are small but deliciously fragrant and sweet.
Here's a picture from just a few days ago. You can see my other epi's hanging out in the background:
One of the nice things about this particular flower is that it stays open until around 10:00 a.m. or so until it starts to close.
Here is a nighttime picture of the same flower. This picture was taken in early August:
Candy and Clare,
just gorgeous!
We had the final hurrah of our Epi oxypetalum during the middle of September. A total of 25 blossoms opened on 3 nights in succession. We watched two nights in a row but missed the third group, being out of town for a few days. (Picked up the spent blossoms from the deck).
Last week I moved "her" back inside. With the help of a large board, I was able to slide the plant right inside the greenhouse onto a tray. I will root the usual cuttings ( byproduct of the move) over the next months.
The Epi phyllanthus grew well over the Summer and flowered continuously outside, I moved it in bud into the sunroom.
My other Epis are still outside, I will watch the frost warnings, and then on to the garage they go for winter storage.
It was a good season!
Glad to hear that it was a good season, Ursula. I hope you get many more blooms in a few months:-) I'll be sure to post pics when your flower blooms here.
So lovely Clare! I'm hoping I get many more blooms next year. I plan to keep these two big plants in the sunroom this winter where it is a little warmer than the greenhouse. Better to keep an eye on them too. :)
Ursula, I'm in the process of doing that "fall cleaning/moving" thing too. Have moved the Euphorbia collection into the sunroom as it dropped below 50F a couple of nights in a row. Now it is supposed to be hot again for a few days, but that's a game I play with the weather every year. If I leave stuff out to long, I get caught and if I begin to bring things in sooner, it is bound to turn HOT again! LOL
I'd agree that it was a good season for these beauties and I feel that we've all benefitted from the sharing of experiences and tips and tricks with our Epis. Thanks to one and all.....parting thought for my tip of the day would be BAIT FOR SNAILS/SLUGS.....they are showing up again in the garden now that the nights are cooling off.
With the Epis done for the season, I'm loving my big 6" Hibiscus blooms to provide some bright color in the fall garden.
Candy, you might get more flowers on them in a few months. Don (Tropicman) gets epi oxy flowers about four times a year on his. Boy that would sure cheer up your sun room in the dead of winter!
That's a beautiful hibiscus, Candy!
One more thing to add to your tip of the day: more than once I found green bud worms eating away at my epi's. I don't seem to have a snail problem as mine are on a patio and snails don't seem to make their way onto the concrete and up the rock wall, but bud worms have done as much damage so beware of them also. They can be found easily and picked off.
They are certainly very unique and beautiful . I can always tell when mine is going to bloom. It is the second night after they turn upward. They grow straight down and then when the are ready to open, they turn their heads upward so you can see their beauty. Lou
