Queen of the night - Peniocereus greggii ;
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/78418/
Tonight appears as if this is going to be one of the nights , I noticed earlier today that some of the buds were rather enlarged . Really almost looks like a bunch of dead sticks stuck in the ground does'nt it
But lets look a little closer ;
A liiittle cloooser ;
Ummm huh , yes , I believe magic is coming tonight . It looks as if we are going to be treated to no less than 5 blossoms tonight . With more still developing on other plants for different nights . If you want a rare treat bring some liquid inbibment and come on down , come as you are . These blossoms last but one night
Nice! Pics when they open????
This is same blossom close up about 30 minutes later, its opening ;
This message was edited Jun 2, 2008 7:22 PM
I miscounted , there is six blossoms opening for us tonight ;
The first four pics were taken about 6:30 , pic 4 and 5 were the same blossom 30 minutes later and pic #6, 7 , 8 20 minutes after that about 7:20
One more and I am going back out ;
# 9 - these were taken about 7:40 - 7:45 , definitely open and VERY fragrant , could be smelled from several feet away . Remember this fragerence is what Channel # 5 is supposed to be based on ;
From promising bud to full open in about 1 1/2 hours ; this was taken from about the same position for pics # 4, 5 and 10 ;
Beautiful! I have cuttings of the other Night Blooming Cactus (Cereus) that I'm trying to grow as a houseplant :-D I know it will be a while before it takes over the house!
Yes Benny , I thought that these were supposed to bloom late june - early july , but you can see for yourself . The plant that is giving these six has another blossom that should be open in another day or two . There is another seperate plant that could give another show within a few days of another 4 to 5 blossoms . Don't you all wish you were here , these pics do not really do it justice and the fragerence is VERY nice . Here comes a few more pics
A different night blooming cereus ? I was not aware of another . Would you have the botanical ?
Another pic , don't you all wish you were here ?
Night blooming Cereus (Epiphyllum oxypetalum)
Well Benny as I said above I have another seperate plant that will be probably doing 4 to 5 blossoms I would guess within the next week , There are other blossoms but to night looks like the biggest showing . As you can see .
Well I see now that there are three strains/varieties .
the Epiphyllum oxypetalum that magicsgarden brought up ( is this native to Arizona ? )
And there are 2 strains of Peniocereus greggii
There is Peniocereus greggii 'Var. transmontanus' , the flowers are 3 inches across and is found in the Sonoran desert below 3300 ft.
And there is Peniocereus greggii 'Var. greggii' has flowers 2 inches across and is found in nature above 4000 ft in the Southwestern deserts.
The transmontanus is what we are viewing here , Not sure how my camera will do at night . Should I go out and try to take some more . Right at sundown it was fun , got to watch the baby owls scampering around as I took these .
You all want more ?
I've been trying to do some research since I got my original cuttings from Loggees catalog but I'm really not sure if it is native to this area or not.
Here is something on the Epiphyllum oxypetalum magicgarden ; it does not seem to be native to Arizona ;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyllum_oxypetalum#Origin_and_habitat
I just got back from trying a few night shots , there is/was a change ;
Trying for a side view ;
Another from the side ;
The perfume wafting through the air was pretty pervasive ;
The one off by itself , that will be all for now folks . Hope you enjoyed the show ;
Doug I so enjoyed the show!! No buds on mine at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maris now going off to have a person to cactus talk with hers....
Very, very pretty! Thanks for sharing those beautiful blooms (as they opened) with us!
Very very pretty. Although I am not a cactus person, who can resist these flowers? But the interesting thing for me here, is on Sunday night, I was poking around in the alley behind my house, because something caught my eye. I found what looked like a little ice plant type thingy with cute little pink flowers on it...BUT..what I also found was a plant, that I believe is what you are showing us, ld. I had already forgotten about it, until I saw this thread. So...jammies and all, I just went cruising back out to the alley, and this is what I found....
A closer shot
And..obviously more to come.
This poor cactus is in the alley, mixed in with who knows what. Some other cactus, a huge lantana, this ice plant looking stuff, aloe vera (I think). I was snatching a cutting off the ice plant, when I saw this guy. I meant to go back and get my camera, but got side tracked and totally forgot. I am so glad I saw this thread. Now I will be watching for the other blooms. Thank you :)
A night blomming cactus ( there are many including saguaro ) but that is not the Peniocereus greggii . The Peniocereus greggii 'Var. transmontanus' truly looks almost like dead sticks when it is alive . I have a few more pics taken this morning .
Mr. Bee , bathing in Channel # 5 ;
Doug were yours already in place on your proerty or did you buy them from somewhere?
He must have liked it , he moved to another blossom and he is DROWNING himself in it , look carefully he is the dark spot at the bottom of the upper blossom in the pic . Somebody better throw him a life preserver .
Marie , I got them through a grower/friend/aquaintence I do work for , nobody wanted them . I have six of them . A pic of the same plant with another developing bud , probably opening tonight .
An upcoming show from a different plant next to the other , probably one or two more nights before this opens . It looks as if will have 5 blossoms opening on the same night .
Ahhhhh, the vicarious thrill of it all - even if we don't have room (or whatever) we can always 'experience' the blossoms and plants of others on Dave's Garden...
Without thier blossom they really don't look like much , do they ?
