Night Blooming Cereus

 I had 9 night blooming cereus to open. The picture above and the one below were both taken about 9PM. They are exquisite in every detail. But they only get better as the night passes.

The last two pictures were taken about 1AM. By that time the blooms were fully open and the sepals were fully re-flexed as can be seen in the last picture.

I saw a sphinx moth checking them out.
This is the third flush of blooms I have had from these plants this summer. The plants are very old. I have had them myself about 45 years and I continue to root pieces . The original came from my grandmother who spent several years in Florida and brought the original back to Alabama when she returned. I seldom fertilize. I go not repot often. In fact, I leave them in the same pots until the roots eventually crack open the pots. I use plastic pots to decrease the weight of the plants as they get heavier and bigger as they grow. My plants have limbs that are 5/6 feet long and are certainly not graceful. But when they flower, they can be forgiven. In their natural element growing in trees, water drains away quickly and there is not a lot of soil, so keeping them pot bound simulates that environment. It seems to me that letting them get dry and then watering again brings on a new flush of flowers. They are a joy to watch bloom and almost the only care they require in my zone 8 garden is to keep them from freezing.