See You Next Summer!

   The Night Blooming Cereus plants have outdone themselves again this year.  For some reason, the plants really love the little care that I give them.  They flourish on neglect, obviously.  Each spring, I lug them out of the greenhouse and plop them in some shady place of the yard.  Occasionally, a bit of water is hosed on them and that is about it.  Then, over the course of the warm months, they bloom...lots.  In fact, it it has been about every two weeks that the plants reset buds and, when the time was right, the yard would smell divine with the scent of blooms.  I can only imagine the frenzy of the moths that surrounded the blooms at night.  I have to admit that I only made three viewings of the late night blooming times, this summer.  (Exhaustion is not a friend!)

  With the recent cold spell visiting us, I did my duty and lugged the heavy plants back into the greenhouse.  I figured the plants were finished blooming for the season.  Now, they can stay snug and warm for the duration of winter.  A couple of days ago, it was necessary to water the plants and you can imagine my surprise to find nine large buds on the cereus plants!  Oh, my!  Plants...you should be resting now.  

  Again, I was too sleepy to trek out to the greenhouse to see the flowers in the middle of the night but...BUT!...I headed out at 4am the next morning.  The blooms were still open at that wee hour so I did not fully miss their glorious display.  When I opened the door, the heavenly scent engulfed me and, once again, I was carried back to my grandparents' place and one of their many "Night Blooming Cereus Parties".  (Yes, that was a thing back in the day when I was a youngster.)  Those parties often found me dozing on Pop's shoulder far before the "grand viewing" but I was roused from slumber to see the giant flowers.  I stood in the greenhouse and whispered a "thank you" to Granddad for giving me my first Night Bloomer so many years ago.  And I whispered "thank you and see you next summer" to the blooms.