Roselee, It's always fun to wake up and see your photos in a post. What a really cute pic of the caterpillar. It's almost like he's saying, 'bet you can't see me now.' Yes, we can!

I love night blooming plants, too. That is a gorgeous night blooming cereus. Brings back memories of our first moon flower vine. DH and I took out the lawn chairs and sat outside in the dark, with our flash lights and cameras... waiting for the moon flowers to open. Nope... just don't care what the neighbors think..... nope, nope, nope! :-) It's our paradise, lol.

Soooo very happy that the plummies are doing well for you. You know, the cuttings from each fall will give you more plummies in the Spring. We'll be taking some unrooted plummie cuttings to swap.

Thanks for the photos and the post. Always enjoy them.

Sunny Irene, thanks so much for taking the time to look and for commenting.

That is so cute about the moon flowers. Reminds me of many years ago when a large night blooming cereus in a hanging basket bloomed for the first time. I had bought it for $5.00 because it looked so ratty at the time, but with care it thrived.

I'd been watching the buds form, but had no idea when the big event might take place, nor did I know they were scented. One night I was up late reading and into the house came this most delicious scent. I got a flashlight and went outside to see if I could determine where it was coming from. The night blooming cereus was in full bloom with the most gorgeous heavily scented huge flowers. This was in Bob's working days and I could NOT wake him, all the neighbor's lights were out, and my 35 mm camera was out of film. I have only my memory of those 50 magical flowers ... oh well. I'm just glad to have had the experience.

I'm going to ask Mara if she knows a key word to help find a post she did with some absolutely gorgeous night blooming cereus flowers.

Mara gave me the name of her plant, Epipyllum oxypetalum "Queen of the night", but I guess her magnificent post on it has fallen off the bottom since I could not find it in a search. She says it now has 35 buds which will bloom tonight!

Here is a link that might be useful: Video of Queen of the night opening: Nice, but not as pretty as Mara's photos ....

Okay, Mara sent the link to her Flicker album. Click on the number to enlarge.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mara's magnificent photos of Queen of the Night ....

This post was edited by roselee on Sat, Oct 11, 14 at 14:27

Well, I found the post. I've gone this far so may as well link it as well ....

Here is a link that might be useful: Mara's post I was looking for. Found it under Annie, Mara's mother's name ...

I might have more added to it after tonight. I remember one horrific storm blew in at 10 or so at night and during the worst of it I stuck my head out under the covered entrance and I could smell the freshly opened epi fragrance swirling in the maelstrom. I was so worried about those unseen thrashing blossoms and long branches. I could only imagine the violence of their wild dance. IT was a Punk heavy metal mash pit out there. After the storm passed the fragrance rebounded strong as ever and the raindrops were so rewarding on the blossoms. Not a flower or branch was damaged. Amazing. I spent a couple of hours crawling in the wet verdure on my hands and knees worshiping my plant and giving my thanks to whatever demigod or saint who watches over the blooming plants of the world..

Roselee, I always enjoy your pictures. I love my night blooming Epipyllum. Have had it for probably 15 or so years. I remember one year it was loaded with blooms and with it on the south side of the house by one of our trees, the fragrance would drift through our bedroom windows. This year, I've missed the flowers still being open as I have a tendency to "sleep in" since I have retired......(bad girl needs to get up and get busy).

Cape Plumbago is one of my all time favorite plants. Over in Bunkie, Louisiana I have seen them planted in big box planters on street corners. They just nearly knock you over with their visual presence of such a delightful blue. Would love to have mine doing as good as yours.

Thanks for the stroll through your flowers.

Beautiful pictures Roselee! I've never had any luck with plumbago, they never come back after the winter for me, but yours are stunning!

Mara, I'm eager to hear how the blooming episode goes with Annie tonight; how stunning the flowers, how intoxicating the perfume. I love plants with a story. I guess that's why I tell so many about mine ... LOL

Gmax, thank you. I love your epi story! And aren't we lucky to have blue plumbagos that love our hot weather? I read that an amateur breeder/gardener in Africa, where they originate, worked for ten years to get the brighter blue color from the natural pale blue. In very warm climates they climb trellises and porch rails. Wouldn't that be nice?

Lorelei, plumbagos are easy as pie for me to grow. In the occasional very cold winter, like last winter, they die back, but they usually do not. But they come back from the roots as long as they have warmth. That's probably why they do well next to the heat of the driveway. If the ground is wet and they are covered with mulch the roots rot so I'm careful to pull back the mulch in the spring. I'm glad I read that or I wouldn't have them now. I can dig some for you next spring if you want to give them another try.

Roselee and Mara. Thanks so much for sharing the precious and amazing videos and the story of Mara's mom. I've just kept looking at them several times because they are so beautiful and fascinating. Mara, I sit in awe as I read the amazing story of your mom. It's as if I'm transported into another world filled with her character, the visual of the waist high boots, and her love of the NH swamps. I really wish there was a book of memoirs to read more about her, but I can understand that she did not leave anything behind.... but still... it leaves us wanting to know more of her wonderful world. It's truly fascinating. Thanks for sharing.