Mom's turn:Queen of the Night

Epiphyllum oxypetalum (commonly known as Lady of the Night, Queen of the Night, Night blooming cereus, and Dutchman's Pipe) is by far and away the most popular and widely cultivated species from this genus. We live in Louisiana where the climate keeps us from planting our treasure in the ground, so it has to come inside every winter. To those of you who have never owned or seen a cereus....it is one of the ugliest potted plants you will ever come across (people will wonder why you have it, and why you don't put it out with the garbage),

beauty is in the eye of the beholder

but the rewards it will produce are very much worth your defending it's place in your garden or house. It has the most fragrant, beautiful, magical flowers you will ever see...or smell!

A few facts about the “Lady of the Night”, she’s actually a cactus! (my pictures, information from J. Dougherty @ Ecology.org)

“Jungle cacti are at the pinnacle of cactus evolution... having left the mundane process of growing on the ground and moved into the treetops to exploit that unique environment. They are not parasites, merely passengers hitching a ride up out of the gloomy understory of the forest and into the bright light and clear air of the canopy. "Epiphyllum" literally means "upon the leaf," in reference to their habit of growing in the crowns of tall rainforest trees.
Long stems ("runners") can snake through the forest canopy, producing flattened blade-like "leaves" along their length. If severed, the runners have the ability to form new independent plants, provided some portion of them is gripping the host tree.
Like all true epiphytes, they take their nourishment from the environment and not from their host plant (which would make them a parasite, not an epiphyte). Falling leaves, bird droppings, dead insects, etc. are trapped by the tangled root masses of epiphytes, or collect in catchments of moss and other plants at the crotch of large branches. This becomes the source of nutrients for the epiphytes.
The leaves of epiphytic cacti are actually modified stems, adapted to cling to their host tree, as well as to serve photosynthetic and storage functions. Flowers are produced from the nodes near the ends of these leaves. The flowers are quite large when compared to the leaves that support them. The buds can be as large as a man's hand in some species,

The bud that will open tomorrow night

a bit smaller in others (in other, closely related genera, such as Hylocereus, the buds are even bigger and the flowers may be as large as a man's head).Her majesty...truly a site to see AND smell. Ours were rather small this year compared to previous years - lack of regular watering

Most of the true species bloom at night, since they are predominantly pollinated by bats and large moths. They have large white flowers to help their pollinators locate the blossoms by moon or star light, and many have very lovely fragrances. The flowers of the true species typically last only one night, this transience only adds to their appeal and mystique.”

etheral beauty

Always a much anticipated family night...then we cut the flowers and bring them into our rooms to enjoy the scent throughout the night in our dreams.