In the Yard for June 8, 2012
Night blooming cereus
Thomas and Margaret Moore, who live in Baton Rouge, got a call from a friend one night at 11:30.
“We were in bed,” Thomas Moore said, “but by midnight we were at their house to see a flower open on one of their night blooming cereuses.”
The Moores got a stem from their friends’ cereus, a cactus, and grew their own. If the Moores wanted to, they could place their potted night blooming cereuses where they could see the plants from bed, set the alarm clock and voila!
“You watch the stems grow for seven or eight days,” Moore said. “Then, one night (in late May, early June at the Moores’ house), between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. the flowers start to open. They’re gone by 8:30-9 a.m.”
A considerate night blooming cereus grower, Thomas Moore sent us information and a photo by email, and we slept through the night.
The Moores grow their cereuses in pots and take them inside when the weather turns cold. In Australia and Hawaii, the couple has seen the plant in the ground the size of a bush.
Go to “Dave’s Garden” on the Internet for more information and availability. Search for “night blooming cereus” at YouTube to see a flower open.
Ed Cullen
Advocate staff writer