Epiphyllium Oxypetalum

Two years ago my boyfriend gave me a start to a plant that he had received from his brother in South Carolina. All I knew about it was , you could start it from a piece of leaf, and bloomed only at night and only lasted through the night. The fragrance was suppose to be heavenly. Well being the plant lover that I am, I was very intrigued by this piece of leaf I was getting. I potted the leaf, watered the leaf and it grew and grew and grew. Not the most attractive plant I have ever grown, but interesting to the say least. Wanting to learn more about my plant, I turned to the internet to investigate websites to name my unknown plant. To make a long search short, I found a name for my gem. Epiphyllium Oxypetalum. Also know as Night blooming Cereus, Queen of the night, Christ in a cradle ect ect.."Epi" to all us Epi owners I read everything I could find on her, and waited with anticipation for my "Epi" to bloom. In some forums I read some people had their plants for 20 years without ever experiencing a bloom. I kept her in a south facing window in the winter, and put her outside in the summer. Imagine my surprise, when towards the end of June, sitting outside on my deck, where I kept her. I glanced at her leaves and saw 5! not 1, 5 bloom buds! I jumped up and scream in delight of knowing I would be experiencing blooms on my "Epi" soon! I watched everyday, as the bloom buds started to grow. After checking on her progress daily, I soon discovered on bloom bud had fallen off, I also noticed the bud in the back was growing at great speed and the others were not. Well you know what happened, they all fell off, but the one in the back and it was growing like crazy. 2 inches a day at least. So I was about to observe my first epi bloom and couldn't wait for the night it would happen. July 23 a monday, I came home from work and rushed out to see my bloom head. OMG it had swelled and what showing white at the tip! Tonight would be the night of my first "Epi" bloom! I couldn't contain myself, I called Sam and told him to pack his bag and come watch the spectacular showing, but, he declined knowing he had to work the next day. bummer...Wish I could have shared with someone who could understand what a thrill this was for me. Well I set up my camera on a tripod, put a spot light on the house so I would have some light on her, and opened a beer and sat down to watch the show. A little soft music in the background and I was set for the evening, and what an evening it was. I sat from 7:45pm till midnight and enjoyed the changing beauty and the wonderful fragrance which filled the air all around me. I filmed and I ohhh and awwwed for hours. I am adding the slide show,view....Click on link below and tell me what you think....
http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/sug4646/sams%20epi/?action=view&current=SamsEpiBlooms.flv

Well its August

Its been a while since I have vented, so I thought I would add a little to my venting blog..haha. Yep, I talk to myself, and answer myself too...geesh, never mind what I just said. Well, My babies are in Iraq and I am so afraid for them. I know they are growing up and seeking whats good for them, but I just can't let go. They will always be my babies no matter what. Here is the last picture of me and my boys together...