Home & Garden

These are some of the lovely colors and textures in our hanging garden. Well, to tell the truth, the “hanging garden” is a makeshift planter — a galvanized bucket hanging from a garden hook. But still pretty.

The finished product! Late in the evening the flowers opened to their full glory, beckoning photographers and pollinators alike.

Shortly before opening completely, the flower goes onto what I call the Fabergé Egg phase, resembling the famous designer eggs with little scenes inside seen through a peephole. The delicate interior of this egg harbors the pistils and stamens that enable night-flying pollinators to cross-pollinate the flowers.

Remember the little alien-looking eyestalks on the picture I shot of the backyard cactus I posted in my article Cactus Flower Season? Well, tonight the little stalks have extended themselves into buds that soon will produce beautiful, delicate and fragrant cactus flowers. These are a type of night-blooming cereus and attract nocturnal pollinators. The next stage of the bloom for these will resemble a Fabergé Egg. I’ll have those out to you tomorrow! Things happen fast in the world of these gorgeous flowers — almost hour by hour.

The time is upon us for our many cactii to produce their beautiful, albeit short-lived, blossoms. This pair of buds atop one cactus looked to me like an alien creature peering at us through its eye stalks. Don’t worry though, these awkward little buds will mature into a couple of very beautiful, delicate and fragrant nocturnal flowers. Just watch out for the needles.

I’ll be sure to get many more photos of these beautiful flowers and post the best ones here throughout the cactus flower season.