The Lack of Sleep and a Thing of Beauty!

   A few years ago, my brother gave me a piece of a plant that he had on his front porch.  He said that it was there when he moved into the house.  The home used to be our grandparents' place and I do recall there being a lot of plants there when our grandparents were alive.  The plant was a cactus of sorts and greatly resembled the Night Blooming Cereus that I had (from the same grandparents).  He said that his plant had never bloomed to his knowledge even though it was about 30 years old.  Hmm...well, it was still interesting so I gladly took my "leaf" home to root.  The cutting did well and soon became a huge plant that I lugged in and out of the greenhouse to protect.  I was happy with the night "non-blooming" cereus just because it was an interesting cactus.  Whereas the other cereus plant leaves were flat, these start out triangular and then flatten.  Such an odd addition to my "rainforest".

  Well, now three years after the gift of a cutting, the cactus decided it was time to bloom!  Last night, I stayed up far too late for this old lady just so I could view (and photograph) the bloom.  Needless to say, that 4am rising time came before I was ready but Bat, the cat, thought otherwise.  Happily, the bloom was still open although a bit weary itself.  I smiled as I stepped out the French doors before dawn.  Seeing that single flower well made up for the lack of sleep.

  Now comes the bit of studying time to find out exactly what type of night-blooming cactus this is.  There are so many different types out there!  Having the triangular stems (leaves) and the smaller bloom should help in the research.  Also, rooting more has become a priority!  

Those Blooming Cuttings

   For the past few weeks, things have been a bit rough.  Health issues flared again.  That added to the extreme heat we have been enduring made it a bad time to be outside.  I was, once again, confined to the Little Bayou House.  This would not have been a problem except this time I was hit with "no lifting, no stretching, no overworking" orders by the doctor.  Work on the place came to a grinding halt.  Sheer exhaustion caused me to miss something that I was long awaiting.

   It was time for the first blooming of the cereus plants.  Buds were literally hanging everywhere! Each plant had 5 to 9 buds ready to open.  My plants were putting on quite the show and I so wanted to view it.  Sadly, the exhausted body had other plans.  With the plants blooming late at night, there was no earthly way I would be awake.  It was all I could do to venture out before the sun fully set to take a few photographs.  It saddened me to know the lovely blooms would go unseen.

  One thing that did surprise me was the fact that a cutting that I had tossed in "Pebble Creek" (the glorified gutter drain) had a huge bud.  The plant was not even in dirt!  Cereus plants root extremely easy in just a bit of water but for it to bloom there was a rare thing.  I felt bad for the plant and made a promise to get it in a pot as soon as the health permits.  Bloom happy, Cereus Plants!  Bloom happy.  I am sorry to miss your beauty.

Water Garden!

   I love a good night garden as well as I do a lovely day garden.  Plants that bloom only during the dark hours have a certain mystique about them.  Lately, I find myself trying to find and plant more of these beauties even though not much time is spent outdoors late in the evening.  Still, with the windows open, the aromas waft through on the soft bay breezes making me fully aware of their presence.  Plants such as the night-blooming cereus, four o'clock and evening primrose are all highly scented and can make your senses tingle with excitement just knowing the plants are in bloom.

  While this is all fine and dandy, those plants that only bloom during the daylight hours seem to lose a lot of that allure except when they are spontaneous blooms that catch you off-guard.  Only occasionally, am I sure just when I will find the lovely water lilies in bloom.  These pop up, bloom and then close at dusk.  The lovely blooms will reopen up to four days then will slowly sink to the bottom of the pond.  These lilies seem as magical as the night-bloomers simply because of the unexpected showing.  It is also a fun idea to have something bright and pretty in the middle of a Frog Pond!

  Now I find myself on the search for a night-blooming variety of water lily for the small Frog Pond or Puddle Pond.  Both have day-blooming lilies and water hyacinths but the addition of a few night-blooming lilies would be nice.  Son has been trying to get me to thin my collection of tropical plants that need to be moved into the greenhouse each winter so maybe I can fill the ponds with the tropical lilies and appease him.  He is not a fan of hauling in the hundred or so huge potted plants each year.  Water lilies just sit tight until the next spring so that should make both of us happy.