Gorgeous blooms, kitty. It seems that these species bloom this time of year around the globe! Yours look beautiful, I bet they smell nice, too.

Thanks for sharing.

Xuan

YOU GO GIRL! We are all enjoying our night blooming cactus all around the globe it seems. My friend Jan that I visited today has buds on a lot of her Epiphilium too. She also shared some new cuttings with me too of one of hers. Mine and Xuans bloomed last week. Hey Chaz...you got bloomers now too up there in the East Coast?

Thanks for sharing your lovely photos!!

Very pretty Kitty... my mother (in Indonesia) have this beautiful cactus, they smell very good.

This forum is great! Where else could we take the world and make it into a neighborhood. I didn't realize that the NBC was blooming in so many parts of the world -- all at the same time. My other Epiphyllums bloomed earlier.

What an extraordinary flower! Thank you for sharing yours, Kitty! They're so huge, and so very beautiful! I can only imagine the scent they exude!

It's very odd that this plant should bloom everywhere on the globe at relatively the same time... I would think that different climates and different global positions would make bloom times quite a bit different.

Wow, that timing really is as amazing as the flower. A friend who used to live in Oregon had a giant plant that always bloomed around her birthday, also this time in July. The only plant I had heard of that has a similar bloom cycle is bamboo, which is reputed to bloom at the same time all over the world.

Hi all!
These flowers are just amazing, and I missed my first this year! LOL, I told Chase "that bud is going to open tongiht, and we promptly forgot about it. There are plenty more coming though. We're heading off to provincetown for another getaway I'll post some photos when we get back. I'm going on a "secret garden tour" of some of the private gardens in the area, It's sure to be fun. Have a wonderful and safe week all.
Kitty, Jodi, lupine seeds will be ready when I get back. I've bagged them so I don't loose them again this year.

Chaz, looking forward to seed from those gorgeous lupines. Have a nice getaway and enjoy the gardens.

I had never thought that the bloom of the NBC was on a "schedule" all over the world. Never knew about bamboo either. Very interesting. The flower is so intricate, for something that is only open a few short hours.

That Chaz! He's just zipping all over the place lately! What a gad-about...we want photos Chaz~~of both your garden tours and your cereus when you get back.

I've never had good luck growing Lupines... they always seem to die before one season is over... I haven't tried them in a very long time, though, and I know a lot more about gardening now than I did when I tried growing them last! Hopefully, they'll grow and bloom wonderfully for me! They look so fantastic in your garden, Chaz!

I'm with Cindee... we'll need to see photos from your tour and from your cacti upon your return! These blooms everyone is posting are stupendous! I can only imagine what they'll look like in person... I have a bit of a wait, though, as my cuttings are still very young! They're the size of large dinner plates, though! Just amazing!

Isn't Nature bizarre?? Imagine... at the same time every year, cereus flowers are opening around the globe... that's fascinating! Bamboo, too? Simply fascinating!

Jody, I've not had lupines last much. With me, they've mostly been biennials. Same thing with my columbine. Sometimes they last several years, but mostly only a couple years. Guess the thing is to get them growing in a place where they keep re-seeding themselves.

The NBC is truly a unique specimen. Have three more buds which appear to be going to bloom at once. My other epiphyllum bloom while still inside or shortly after they go out, but then they're done. I also have a smaller version of NBC that is fragrant but blooms many times throughout the summer. Its flower is about three inches across, but it, too, has all the intricate design that the large one does. Chaz, I have one rooting for you. If anyone else wants a small version of NBC, let me know. Think they really don't need to be rooted first. You can root them when they arrive.

The Columbine I have seems to come back for several years running, and also reseeds freely, so there's always more plants coming up... but Lupines never even made it through the first year for me... I think perhaps they were in a bad spot. I have a much better area for reseeding perennials, or biennials, as the case may be. They should do a lot better here!

I think it's the size of the NBC that blows me away! Usually, you think of sunflower heads when you think of really big blooms... but to have something so gorgeous be so big... well... it's not normal! LOL!

I'm wondering if my NBC were to have some really good care if it would be larger. It was in a hanging basket, but is falling out of it (and growing out of it) and has very little soil, and the pot is cracked all the way down the side. Even so, those flowers were two inches larger than last year's.

Larger? I couldn't imagine! Eleven inches is HUGE!

Speaking of giving really good care... I did some much needed maintenance to my Mother-In-Law's-Tongue plant the other day... the poor thing was losing leaves and leaning out of the pot! I took it outside, un-potted it, and found that some of the older pieces of root had died and the newer pieces were crowding them out. I gave it a new clay pot, new soil, and got rid of all the old dead pieces. I left it outdoors under a tree to enjoy the summer. I should really do the same thing to my other plants... that I've been neglecting since I was hit with the Hippeastrum Bug!

Kitty, I think if you did some maintenance to your NBC, you would end up with a monster plant that would get so big, it wouldn't let you in the greenhouse! LOL!

Jodi, you're probably right. I really don't know what to pot it in now, but somehow the pot got broken, so something has to be done. It only has a couple cups -- maybe four, of soil. I also have to repot my pink one and the peach one so they get a chance to establish themselves.

If the plant is that large, it might be prudent to put it into a large plastic pot... the weight will be less, and as it grows, it can distort the plastic instead of breaking the clay or ceramic!

I once had a spider plant that was so large it completely bent a large plastic hanging planter out of round! Re-potting it was quite a difficult job, but I managed to get it into a huge container with some fresh soil! After another couple of years, it declined with age, but it was really something for a while, there!

I know a lot of people take cuttings or divisions from overgrown plants, and then dump the older plant... but I just can't let a plant die if I can help it in any way... I'm weird that way!

Good luck re-potting! I know how hard it is to work with huge plants, or ones that trail or vine, or that are fragile and break off pieces when you go to re-pot them! But, both you and the plants will feel much better once the job is done!

Hi,
I just did a 'search' on this plant and your post came up! What am I doing wrong....my NBC has grown to probably 15-20 feet long and it's starting to fall all over the place and become unruly! It has NEVER blossomed. What do I need to do to get it to blossom (otherwise I believe it's destined for the trash). I live in zone 6 and it is in a large plastic pot, on the floor, next to a Northeast window. It gets a lot of light, but not direct sunlight!
I'm reading about everyone's blossoms and am so jealous.
How can I make this happen???
Thanks,
Linda

I'm not all that familiar with this plant, having only a few little cuttings just starting to grow, but I think maybe yours might require more light.

It appears from the little reading I've done that age, moisture, temperatures, and day length may all have a little to do with the plant's bud setting. I've included a link that gives some good advice for getting this plant to bloom.

I'm really glad that I was gifted with these cuttings... I've been reading about these plants as being actually passed down from one generation to the next, and how spectacular it is to watch and photograph the blooming!

If you Google "night blooming cereus", you'll find a wealth of information on its culture and habits, not to mention some wonderful pictures! From what I gather, the perfume of these flowers is just incredible!

I think that once you find the right microcosm in your home for this plant, you'll find that it will grow and bloom on a regular basis for you. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Night Blooming Cereus - Plant of The Week

Kwyet1, My NBC is not a really old plant, maybe 5 - 6 years at most. I sent the original down to my daughter in Florida, and was sorry, so went and brought a cutting back. I have a smaller one that someone gave me -- seems to be the same thing. It's not more than 3 years old, but had flowers last summer. I keep mine in a very cool greenhouse during the cold season, but when danger of frost is past, it goes outside in mostly sun. I do feed it quite heavily during the summer; otherwise, it's sort of neglected.

The link above does not seem to be the same as mine. Check out the link below. This guy is a professor at UCLA and his pictures are unbelievable. There are many varieties of epiphyllum, and not sure what you may have, but this link appears to be what I have.

Hope some of this helps.
Kitty

Here is a link that might be useful: Epiphyllum oxypetalum

Those are gorgeous pictures, Kitty! I checked out quite a bit of information today, on this plant... I didn't know it could get so large, or live so long! I'm very happy to have the cuttings I've got!

If I can find the right place for it indoors, I might even get some blooms in another year or so. Wouldn't that be exciting!

Jodi & Kitty,
Thank you so much for all the info and the links! After viewing all the pics...I'm convinced to keep it a 'while longer', although I'm not really sure what to do with it? It's almost unmanageable at this point. It grows like crazy...it's easily 15-20 ft at this point and just 'flops' all over the place. I will try more sun and (again) will stop watering it for a while. I'm not sure I have a room where the nights will be as cool as 50 degs. though. Thanks again for all the info!
Linda

Linda, Jodi, Kitty,
Back from NY/NJ here and the company is finally gone. Happy New Year all!
15-20 feet! wow. Linda, cool and dry over the winter is key, check out the cacti and succulents forum there are quite a few epi keepers there. Jodi, they can get huge mine the parent of one of yours is shown below, it's over 6 foot tall and pruned to stay that way!
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Chaz, I wanna come live at your house. You have so many pretty things to look at! I figured that was one of your pictures before I even looked at the name.

What an unbelievable beauty! I see how you have it tied up and bundled to keep it upright... it seems to be a most ungainly plant, and without some pruning and staking, it would be totally unmanageable!

I wonder if I could get mine, eventually that is, to grow up inside a three sided rose trellis? You know, those wrought iron container trellises for roses that J&P always shows off in their catalogs? It's either that, or perhaps some sort of bamboo contraption made up as the plant grows.

So far, mine has grown a long, thin, stem-like piece. It sprouted out of the soil next to the leaf cutting. I thought it very strange, but now that I've viewed many photos of this plant, it's perfectly natural. I really need to re-pot it into something larger and nicer.

I want to thank you again, Chaz... now that I know a lot more about this plant, I'm even more thrilled to have it, if that's possible! :-)

Lar, thanks for the complement. If you do windows and floors you're welcome here!!!! LOL, We'll figure out how to convince the hubbies it's a good thing.
Jodi, these cacti are actually very easy to train one of those rose trellises would be perfect as long as you keep in mind the eventual bulk and height these can obtain. Some growers train them in tomato cages to keep them upright, I once saw a huge one trained up a tube made of large tomato cages the plant was at least 8-10 feet tall in a store front window. My baby stayed at about 3 feet until I upsized the pot to what you see. It's a 12 inch pot and I kept it in the screen house over the summer. It loved summering out doors, I finally have a tree large enough to hang my other epis in over the summer and they just loved being out doors as well. Can't wait till I get a bit more shade on the property to put some other house plants out over the summer, all except my hippis that is. Those poor babies will be house bound one way or another the rest of their lives... :(

That's the problem I have here... no decent trees with limbs low enough to hang plants from in summer. I only have one... the French Pink Pussywillow shrub, which is actually more of a tree now. I've been pruning it to stay at a manageable size, and it now has some lower limbs that might be good for hanging a few plants on this coming summer. It's situated on the east side of a building, so it's sheltered nicely. I thought I'd summer over my orchids in its branches, and also some of my cacti type plants.

My bulbs will either be staying indoors, or they'll come out if I can locate a fine mesh cloth to cover them with. I am not willing to share them with Narcissus Bulb Flies! By spring, I should have my indoor light situation fixed to my satisfaction. I'd love to take every plant I have outside for the nicer weather, but I just don't want to end up posting a horror story about destroyed bulbs! There have been too many posted already, and if nothing else, I've learned a thing or two about insect damage!

Tomato cages are definitely within my budget, but I'm wondering if it would be worth it to purchase one of those gorgeous black wrought iron towers... the flowers of this night bloomer certainly deserve a special home!

I look forward to seeing photos of your tree, complete with your Epiphyllum collection!