Monday 22 February 2010

The Queen arrives!

Please click the pictures.
Known under many names, like large flowered Cactus. Night blooming Cereus; and many more, but my favoured is "The Queen of the Night" which I think is not more than proper fort this spectacular Cactus flowers.
Early this morning I saw the first of the blooms. They open at night, close and die early in the morning. It is a short but spectacular sight of the open blooms.





Climbing up a Jacaranda tree. This plant is nearly 20 years old.

The buds.


Believe it or not:
If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time. Marcel Proust

19 comments:

Stephanie said...

Awesome!!! Your shot is so timely :-D Fortunately the flowers did not die yet. And you are so fortunate to be able to have these flowers blooming in your garden. 20 years old already? wow! Amazing!! This is one precious plant. The bloom is super beautiful Titania... yes it is like a dream watching them blooming happily...

Floridagirl said...

Beautiful photos! This is one of my favorites! I just got some starts from my Mom's garden this past Christmas. Can't wait for my first blooms.

Ingrid said...

Oh, wie schön, die Königin der Nacht,
eine solche hatte meine Großmutter auch!
Liebe Grüße
Ingrid

HyacinthNegrita said...

I have never seen cereus cactus growing outdoors. I live in Oregon, USA where I have the plants in the atrium. It bloomed last year 10 of those magnificent flowers, the whole atrium smell wonderful. When I am not busy I will post the picture in my garden blog.

Kcalpesh said...

Looks really awesome! Something I'm seeing for the first time! Nice photos!

lotusleaf said...

Beautiful pictures! I have a ten year old plant which has not woken up from its winter sleep.

sweetbay said...

That is magnificent! especially growing up into the tree as it is.

Nicole said...

Very spectacular,and I can imagine the wonderful scent!

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Stephanie; It is a wonderful sight, usually I am surprised. My bedroom window faces this tree. I look out in the morning and as fast as they go as fast they come. I have to get out of bed to catch these fleeting beauties.

Floridagirl, this is also nice about plants lots of memories attached.

Ingrid, Nice, that it brings memories back of your Nanna.

Riosamba, Yes do that, and let me know.

Kcalpesh, thanks for your comment.

lotusleaf, let me know when it flowers.

sweet bay, thank you for visiting my garden.

Nicole, thank you.

Ami said...

Wow, what a magnificent scene! So pretty, never seen anything like this. If I have this in my garden, I can see I got up in the middle of the night to see it is opening their buds. That will be like real dream! Oh, does this plant actually climb up a tree?

James David said...

Such a beautiful flower, Im sure the fragrance must be mersmerising.
Its a pity that the flower last only a night - such a short span for a glorious flower.

I guess its waiting for a nortunal creature such as bats or moth to propagate it, maybe then it might turn to a fruit and the flower may last longer.

diane b said...

Wow I've only seen this once at a friends house but she onl hadone bloom. These are gorgeous. You sure have a green thumb.

Fuchsienrot said...

Hallo Titania,
das ist ja ein atemberaubender Anblick - wahnsinnig schön! Die Königin der Nacht macht bei dir ihrem Namen wirklich alle Ehre.
LG Angelika

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Ami, yes it does it climbs by making long roots to hold on to the tree.

I think it is a moth which pollinates the flower. It has not yet set a seedpod, unlike the Pitaya which has the same huge flowers but produces a delicious fruit.

Thank you Diane, I don't know about the green thumb, as they grow so easily!

Danke, Angelika, es ist eine Schau; leider short and sweet!

MedaM said...

This is so delightful flower. It is so large and I am impressed with its beauty. How precious this 20 years plant is!
The Queen of the Night is the best name of this really spectacular flower which I’ve never seen. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.

Pia K said...

gorgeous, impressive! what a fantastic plant to be able to enjoy so up and close.

Pietro Brosio said...

Really amazing flowers, Titania! I've enjoyed all the pictures! Thanks for sharing these beauties!

Sue Catmint said...

amazing flowers, so soft compared to the branches. Happy dreaming, catmint

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Wow, Tatania! I've never seen this plant outside in the light. How awesome! You must have taken these in the morning.