Thursday, September 30, 2010

Just one night...

Cereusflower_2010082387

A really hideously-lit shot of the plant, just to give you the idea of it. :)


I was on the phone absently studying our night blooming cereus plant. It's a great great great great (give or take a great) granddaughter cutting from Georgia O'Keeffe's plant. No lie. It was gifted to me a couple of years ago and I've not seen anything but sprouting leaves and stems, and done my level best not to kill it. "Give it some sun", says my neighbor, "they love sun". And so I did. The poor thing quickly turned into a crispy wonton so I whipped it back in the house before it was too late. That was almost two years ago now...

It was the eve before the full moon in August, the exact same time my neighbor's bloomed in 2008. As I looked around our plant I noticed something really strange touching the window. Upon closer inspection it appeared to be the curled cluster of a bloom—not unlike a squash blossom—and it was going to explode that night. That night only. I turned the plant around and began to watch the process. And a wee bit at a time this incredible blossom began to do just that. I left her for a couple of hours. I checked in. The moon was coming up. She was opening up, and the whole thing was too tempting not to photograph. So I did. Quite a bit.


Cereusflowerfave_2010082331

I wondered what part of the plant exactly was responsible for its most exquisite fragrance, which later wafted down the hall to my room, intoxicating my senses. The whole thing was truly a heavenly experience. For just one night.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Mystery solved...

I could not for the life of me understand why

nothing I planted here

ever sprouted.

Until...

parlezinpot082010