This particular plant, received as a gift cutting from an old friend, is one of my favorites, even though it resides mostly forgotten in our laundry room. There is sits alone and slowly grows, unnoticed until in its own time, it becomes the star of the household for a night.
Humble in appearance, the Cereus is a curious plant and to see one, there would certainly appear to be nothing special about it to grab your attention. Gangly, long fleshy leaves grow in no particular pattern or attractive form, sprouting off of each other along side of long probing hairy pikes. In looking at it, it is hard to discern whether it is meant to be a vine or bush and having never having seen one in the wild, I honestly am unsure. Most people, I have found, would not have it in their home.
The one thing they don't understand though, is what is hidden in the patience of having one of these within your care. After what seems like an eternity, certainly years, and for no particular reason that I know of, they will bloom. This is no any ordinary bloom and within a botanical scale, I would venture to say it is one of the most incredible blooms I have ever experienced. The flowering process starts out as one of these odd spikes, only to grow and swell into a almost alien looking pod. This over a period of a few days to where it reaches a length of about 6 to 7 inches long. Then in one night and only for one night, starting around 9 pm or so, it will slowly start to open. Only over the next several hours, as the bud separates like the unfolding of ones hands, do you really grasp the beauty that is appearing before you. Eventually reaching the size of a dinner plate and releasing a scent throughout our home that is really indescribable, when it is fully open, it displays these most intricate, delicate of inward parts shown here. By morning time, all is gone.. the flower lying dead until another time when it sees fit to bloom again.
Over the years, I have rooted several cuttings for friends and family, some still cherished as members of the household, others that have perished, but the one I have had for about 30 years now, still is going strong, sitting silently unnoticed and waiting for its moment of glory once again to shine into the darkness of night. I can't wait to sense it once again when it does.
I hope that you might be able to find and have one of these curious plants for yourself. Although something that in the everyday is nothing to take note of, when the time is right, the beauty it quietly holds somewhere inside is worth every second of waiting for the bloom.
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