I was worried I might miss the opening of the night-blooming cereus I mentioned yesterday but a well-timed power outage left me with no distractions at all and I was able focus on this beauty.
It began to open at dusk . . .
John moved it from the green house to the front porch where I could sit in comfort and figure out how best to light it. Below is with the camera flash alone . . .
But then I tried turning off the flash and using a strong, hand-held flash light . . .
And I like the results much better.
Such a magical bloom . . .
It has a wonderful fragrance too. . .
Moths (its natural pollinators) were beginning to fly around it but I didn't mange to capture any -- I think the flashlight beam confused them.
I sat up with the bloom till about eleven . . . and in the morning, it had wilted.
But then I noticed a tiny bud, no bigger than the tip of my little finger . . . something else to watch!