Night Fantasy

Night-Blooming Cereus Imagine a pure white, seven-inch blossom spreading majestically in the darkness of a midsummer's night. The scent is heavy, almost overpowering in close quarters. This is Hylocerus undatus (pronounced hy-lo-SEER-ee-us un-DAY-tus), more commonly known as night-blooming cereus. A form of spineless climbing cactus, this plant is native to the Western hemisphere, from the Sonora Desert to South America. It makes a spectacular, sprawling potted plant, requiring very little care and attention. A mature night-blooming cereus (four- to five-years old) will bloom at two-week intervals from midsummer to autumn. The first year it blooms, it might produce as few as two or three blossoms. But blossom numbers and frequency usually increase dramatically during following years.
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