Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Night Blooming Cactus Alert



Night Blooming Cactus, also called Queen Of The Night, because it blooms only in the dark. Picture above was courtesy of my husband holding a flashlight at 4 AM, in order for my lens to focus on it in the dark.
I never noticed the blooms until July of 2007. At 6 AM as I floated on my back in the pool, I looked up and saw several blooms, it was not quite daylight and they were fully open. I grabbed the camera and started 3 years and thousands of photos of this amazing Queen that shows her beauty only in the dark hours of the night.
Click on above photo to see the progress of the bud over a 10 day period, it takes about 10 to 12 days to burst into full bloom. For July and August of 2007 there were 3 to 14 blooms several times a week, my neck began to get stiff from shooting up over my head, since these blooms are 30 feet in the air. On Sept. 5, 2007 I received my birthday present from the cactus. over 40 blooms that morning, there are 29 in the photo above, the camera will not focus in the dark on ALL the blooms.

The photos do not show how awesome this plant is.  
ALERT! ALERT! MADSNAPPER ALERT! this plant is about to have an explosion of flowers in the next two days...... Guess what MIGHT happen?

32 comments:

Unknown said...

Can imagine what will happen in a few days lol! Snap snap snap! Beautiful pictures and beautiful flowers.
Have a great day!

SquirrelQueen said...

Yay, the blooms are back!
I think of all the beautiful flowers you show us this one is my favorite. The night blooming makes it a little bit mysterious and those blooms are gorgeous.
I'm ready for all the photos you want to show us of this beauty.

BlueShell said...

We do not have those here...they are gorgeous, Sandra!
well...I can't imagine...I'll wait and see...
(Sandra - Mom is having insulin injections , because the diabetes were causing damages on the kidneys...and the anemia was caused by diabetes too,...I'm so worried...I have no time to come and visit as often as I wanted.

Sorry dear!

Kiss
Isabel

Linda P said...

Beautiful! My screen is glowing again
this morning. I'm waiting in anticipation for your new blooms to start bursting forth. That's a huge cactus, too, which is also amazing to see. Great close-up photos!

Anonymous said...

What a magnificent treat for the eyes! So spectacular!

Catherine said...

What a beautiful early morning surprise to see those! Lovely!
xo Catherine

Rose said...

This is an awesome plant....wish I had it to watch. Can't wait to see the next explosion.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Wow! Those are gorgeous!

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

Oh wow, that first picture truly shows the awesomeness of this flower. I hope you will be able to capture the blooming in the next few days.

Kathy said...

Your first photo is absolutely spectacular! I guess holding a flashlight at 4 a.m. makes up for not listening!

TexWisGirl said...

it is absolutely gorgeous! thanks to bob for helping capture this beauty for us!

Remington said...

Well isn't that the coolest thing ever! Thanks for sharing! You always have the most interesting posts, my friend!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

I'd love to see a night blooming flower. But won't.

Thank you for sharing these photos with me.

Gentle hugs,
"Auntie"

My Mind's Eye said...

What an amazing photo...not much only something this beautiful would get me out of bed at 4 am. Is this native to your area?
Hugs C

From the Kitchen said...

Bravo! The photos are wonderful. And, how nice of you and Bob to be up so early to capture some of them.

Best,
Bonnie

Susannah said...

Hi Sandra, I have always wondered what night blooming cactus looked like!! Yours is a spectacular beauty!!!! It was worth getting up in the night to take the pics. I can not wait to see more.

Unknown said...

Wow, Wow, and double Wow. That new camera is really showing off.
These are Beautiful, and so clear.

Marie said...

That first photo should be framed, made into cards or something! It's just so beautiful!!! This is one of the first post I remember seeing on your blog when I first started blogging. I would love to have one!

Amy Burzese said...

Beautiful! I didn't know about things that only bloom in the dark. Are y'all usually up before dawn, or do you get up just for the cactus?

George said...

I'm guessing that the Mad Snapper is going to be doing a lot of snapping. I look forward to the pictures. This is an amazing cactus.

Ruth Hiebert said...

These are beautiful. Looking forward to seeing many more pictures.

A Brit in Tennessee said...

How absolutely gorgeous, you have captured it's beauty perfectly !
You have a sweet husband, helping you so early in the morning with your shots :)
~Jo

Miss Debbie said...

That first picture is gorgeous! What a special gift to have in your yard!

Ann said...

Those are gorgeous. Are you going to be camping out in the back yard waiting with camera in hand for that explosion to happen?

Suburban Girl said...

That first photo is pretty amazing! You did a really nice job with the lighting of it.

Dee said...

You are truly the queen of snappers to be out at 4 AM with your hubby and a flash light. LOL ♥

Chatty Crone said...

I think that what will happen is that I will get to see some beautiful flowers tomorrow! sandie

barbara l. hale said...

That's magnificent! Glad you were floating around at 6am. I wouldn't mind seeing more of these. Isn't nature wonderful!

Anonymous said...

nice post thanks for sharing i found your blog thrue other follower looking for to visit more...blessings from holland

Deb said...

Thank you Bob for being the light man...so we can see these beautiful flowers....Snap girl Snap...

S. Etole said...

What fantastic blooms ... how have I missed your latest updates?!

Anonymous said...

oh wow! A delight!