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Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Dutchman's Pipe Cactus/Night Blooming Cereus

Shortly after midnight, cousin Q called and asked if I wanted to take a picture of the flower that's blooming beside his garage. What? He couldn't wait until morning? What's so great about this flower?

Oooh. It's a Dutchman's pipe cactus, also called a night blooming cereus. It only blooms once, and at night. The blooms fade in the morning. If you're really patient and have about 5 hours, you can sit there and watch it slowly bloom.

Cousin Q nicely moved the flower onto a table so I could take better pictures.


Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 1


Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 2

This shot reminds me of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting.




Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 3


Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 4


Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 5


Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 6


Dutchman's Pipe Cactus 7

My fuchsia daytime cereus. The blooms are also very, very similar to dragonfruit flowers, which also blooms at night.

*****
1 year ago today, squid guts, beef tongue, and fish cheeks at Izakaya Haru Ulala - Los Angeles (Little Tokyo).

16 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous flower!! I'd get up at night to photograph that!!

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    Replies
    1. I have it in my front yard. I just finished taking photos

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  2. You got some great shots, WC! I love those luminous blooms.

    ReplyDelete
  3. oh my... that is sooooo pretty!

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  4. Ginni Dee,
    It's a good thing I did because the next morning all the blooms had folded. :(

    Nikki,
    They're pretty unique aren't they?

    Nomnomnom,
    I thought so!

    MCR,
    Yup, very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ohhh my mom did the same last year with ours. It was quite an event! I think they're also known as broad leafed epiphyllums?
    I made sure I shot a bunch of pictures too :)

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  6. what a cool cousin you have! I wonder did he get as much enjoyment waking you up at midnight as he did showing you the flower?

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  7. Your cousin is too cool, growing this by his garage and staying up to watch it bloom.
    Ours is dying, but when it was alive, it's flowers were just spectacular too! We'd go out late at night with the flashlight and just stare at it's beauty. Maybe we should put it by our garage, less bugs.

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  8. This is called Hoa Quynh in Vietnamese, right? I've always seen photos of it but have never had the chance to watch it blossom. I hear it has the most incredible perfume.

    Lovey pics you took of it too.

    p.s. thanks for the b-day wishes :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alice,
    Yes, it's the same but that's a whole lot harder to remember! :P

    Hong,
    My cousin didn't grow it, my youngest uncle did. And I was still awake so it was OK.

    Simply...gluten-free,
    Thanks.

    WoRC,
    Haha. My cousin neither grew this nor watched it bloom. He just got me to come take photos.

    Christine,
    Yes, I think so. The fragrance was pretty subtle though.

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  10. How beautiful! I have heard this flower called Queen of the Night.

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  11. that flower would scare me cuz that thing hanging looks like a spider and somethings i see things that arent really there...

    ReplyDelete

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