The Morning After

Mother had a Night Blooming Cereus which blossomed every summer. The blossoms open at night. You can almost see them move as the petals unfold, and the air is filled with a heavy sweet perfume. Each blossom lasts only one night and closes with daylight as you can see here. This is a bloom from a slip of my mother's plant. I have a few pictures of the open blossom, but they are not very good. We always made an occasion of the event every year. My old plant still blooms, but I'm an early to bed person so I only get to see the morning after these days.