My Cereus hildmannianus, which has had a very traumatic summer, has decided to put out a couple of blooms! I had talked about this plant in some previous posts... (if you're interested, click on the label link to the right...) and I was surprised to see 2 very small buds forming this morning. But cross your fingers, this plant has been known to put up false buds. Usually, of about 10 small buds, only 7 will finish developing and bloom, some will abort. I'm told that this may be a survival technique... in the wild, the buds may be eaten by grazing animals, so if the real buds get eaten before they fully develop, these false or secondary buds will go ahead and develop... This is of course all speculation, but that's what they say...
Also in surprises, My stapeliad gigantea(?) which has also had a traumatic summer(see previous post) seems to be putting out 3 buds too... way too small for me to be sure, but it doesn't look like new stem growth, as there's plenty of that on there too. Cross your fingers! This plant is fairly new, and I haven't ever seen it bloom, so I'm looking forward to the big blooms, but I can't say that I'm going to be thrilled about something smelling like a dead animal in the yard...
And, just to have some sort of pic for everybody to look at... here's a pic of the Echeveria 'Blue Moon' blooming in the yard.
I've been watching my Staplaids, but so far, nothing. They don't bloom every year for me, and they are sneaky, so this time of year they have to be watched closely to detect any sign of flowers. When I went outside the other night, there was a nasty odor in the air and I thought maybe one had bloomed, but alas, it was apparently a scent wafting in from some sewer or dairy nearby.
ReplyDeleteAiyana
I would love to have the Blue Moon in my garden. It is striking!
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