Mike C's Blog (9)

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In my last blog I posted a photo of my shade house that I finished today and mentioned that it would be filled with Orchid Cactus, Dragon Fruit and Night Blooming Cereus by the end of April. Spritz commented that she didn’t recognize these plants and asked if they were available in the UK. I believe that they are and I thought I would give a brief description of them along with some photos.

The Orchid cactus that I speak of are Epiphylum. They are Hybrids of epiphytic cacti species native to the jungles of Central and South America. They are basically tree dwellers. My partner is the one who is really into these and he has a collection of about sixty different colors. The flowers can be six to 8 inches across on these. This is my favorite called Marie Antoinette.

This is a red flowered one and I’m not sure on the name. This photo also shows what the leaves look like.

The night Blooming Cereus is in the same family. Epiphyllum Oxypetalum and also originates from the jungles of Central and South America. The flowers are white and they give a very strong scent when they bloom. There is also one called Queen of the Night and the flowers are red. The flowers open after dark and only last the night. The flowers on these are also very large. This is a bud with a hand behind it to show the size of the buds.

This is the white flower.

This is the largest one that we have in flower on my patio last summer.

A close up of buds just getting ready to open. You can sit there and watch the flowers open very slowly. The plant branches actually move a little.

This is a flower half open.

And the same flower all the way open.

Sorry but I don’t have a photo of the Dragon Fruit. Pehaps if you are interested you could do a google search. Dragon Fruit, Hylocereus Undatus. It’s worth seeing. The plant looks like a Night Blooming Cerus and the flowers are similar to the white ones I just showed. The fruit can weigh up to three pounds and it is similar in taste to Kiwi. Many Chinese restaurants serve it.

All these plants are very easy to propogate. You take a leaf cutting and let it heal for about three to four days and then you place it in moist soil and water very little until you see growth. They love heat and humidity and so that’s why they do so well here as our summers can get very humid.

• 4 Apr, 2008
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