Flower for the Night Finally - Blooms 8-28-25

You may remember awhile back my night blooming cereus (Hypocereus undatus) buds (3) did not bloom.Last night the plant showed why it is always worth the wait. Recently after some cooler nights I noticed three buds getting ready. Here is one. It is fascinating how it comes off the edge of the leaf.

Last night two of the three buds started to open after dark.

And by 9:00 pm they were fully open.The insides are spectacular.

And the other source of my continued amazement is their pungent unforgettable 

scent. My parents had yearly 'opening' parties at our house in the 1940's

so they have been part of my life for a long time.

They remain open all night and close permanently when the sun comes up. 

Fortunately there is one blossom still coming. 

   Night-blooming cereus

Maybe the moon or
pieces of it, with gilded edge
to contain it. Maybe just some breath,
the desert's prayer of gratitude
for a season of
abundant rain or maybe
the sudden opening into darkness
a question,
an urgency from another
of those many things that grows
most beautiful right before it dies;
this the branding of night by
something more ephemeral, some
brief satiny blaze that
yields itself to the morning
having found what I have found
in that same mood:
the desert wind is always
whispering its indigo secrets
but it never says
the same thing twice.

Sometimes called 'Queen of the Night', the night-blooming cereus is an otherwise unassuming cactus species. But once a year it blooms spectacularly, fragrantly, for a single night; the gorgeous flower already having wilted by morning. Catching it, in its bright glory, for that brief moment in the dark — feels like a life-affirming secret, revealed…

Christari Jay