yardgranny6's Blog

Busy Gardeners
Sep 11, 2007 | 3:26 PM PST
Tags: September , Night Blooming Cereus , Plant History

Boy, the coming of September seems to have everyone in the mood to get out and garden again. I love reading all your blogs about what you are doing now in the garden. So many things to move, thin, get-rid-of and lots of plans for the coming seasons. Keep it up, keep posting, especially photos.

I have inherited a Night Bloom Cereus from friends that do not want to baby it any longer. I am learning a lot on the web about the needs of this plant and the concensus seems to be they don't need a lot except to be appreciated. And not for their out of hand growth pattern. Now that it is in my possession, and I know the Cereus growth pattern, I can see it blooming up in trees in lower Florida with dozens of blooms at a time. Now if a plant can survive growing in a tree with no one climbing up there to tend to it, you would think it really does not need a lot of care. Good thing because it does have to come inside for us here in SC and I am not the most dedicated in-house gardener.

Here is a webpage with good photos, I hope it comes up. http://www.flickr.com/photos/
retinal_impressions/sets/81560
0/show/

My plant is about 3 feet tall, likes to be root bound, a little water and there is a bit of contradiction about fertilizer. Plus if you prune it at the wrong times or take off the ungliest leaves/branches it won't bloom at all or not much anyway. Seems it likes to bloom on those older leaf/branches. It likes shade during the warm months and I have a good place for it to live in my backyard next season.

My Cereus has a history and after reading some of the comments on Dave's Garden site most of these long living plants do have interesting stories.  This particular Cereus has been in my friends life since 1989. It came from a plant that was already many years old. She has shared it with friends over the years which means it will live on for many lifetimes all over the US. The Cereus will bloom several times over the season with as few as 3 or 4 and sometimes dozens of blooms. Right now my plant 4 or 5 buds. I say 4 or 5 because those little buds like to hide and with the growth pattern, you may count the same hidden bud twice. I did see 4 for sure today. But yesterday when I picked it up I could have sworn it had 5 buds.

 It is such a startling plant in that it only blooms at night and after it blooms the blossoms fall off. If you want to save the blossom to show a friend you can cut it off, incase it in a plastic bag, tie it closed and place it in the refrigerator.  It will stay pretty for a few days this way.  When the bud on the plant begins to show some white, it is time to start watching it unfold. I am told it takes several hours for this to occur and that the scent is heady and not like any other floral fragrance you may have experienced.

Many people have Cerues parties when the blossoms begin to open. I hope to be able to witness this occurance in the next few weeks and invite friends and especially my grandchildren over for the evening. Just hoping it starts opening early enough that I don't have to stay up til 3am. Though I am willing to do just that.

What a wonderful year this has been for me!! First the spring and early summer months were glorious weather wise and I was able to get some much needed garden projects started. Notice I said started because I got waylaid by a new project - cleaning off the fence line with my neighbor. That was a good thing but did put me behind on the project at hand which was clearing out the other side of the fence line. It is supposed to be better weather this week with perhaps a little moisture falling from the sky to boot. So I am looking forward to getting a lot done over the next few weeks.

Did put a second coat of paint on the shed last week, painted a piece of lattice which will be home to my new Clematis and the two older ones I dug and repotted. This has got to be completed in the next week, these plants need to set root before it begins to get 'chilly'. Wonder what that feels like? It will be nice to need to wear the old faded jeans and comfy flannel shirt in order to work in the gardens.

More to Come Later