Her beauty only lasts one night...........

On Monday night my Moon Flower bloomed - 4 beautiful blooms. They really are magnificent - and the perfume - intoxicating. 

 Unfortunately they only flower for one night and by the morning they are finished. My plant only seems to flower a few times a year, and so I need to take the opportunity to photograph it. 

 So I stood out in the rain with an umbrella sheltering me and my camera (on a tripod) to take these images. You can see the raindrops in this image.  Rain in December? - unheard of! - we really are having a strange start to summer.

 These images are as taken - only a little minor sharpening. The light was from an outside tube light which is on the wall above my plant on my patio. I used ISO 800, Aperture Priority, with camera on a tripod sheltered by an umbrella! 

I decided to search for my moon flower on the web - and I found out it is the Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus.

Epiphyllum Oxypetalum or Dutchman’s-Pipe Cactus, is a large floral variety of cactus native from Mexico to Brazil. Plant can grow as tall as 20 feet (6.1 m) in height. It’s branches are dark green and it requires moist soil. It grows in late spring and early summer, somewhere around May 30th (northern hemisphere). It blooms for only 1-2 days. Individual flowers can be up to 11 inches (27.9 cm) long and 5 inches (12.7 cm) wide. It opens as the sun goes down. It has a very deep and fresh fragrance which spreads as soon as it blooms. 

Click on the link and scroll down to Number 1 - The Dutchman's Pipe Cactus

lovely-flowers-which-bloom-only-at-night 

Because the moonflower flowers only one night, you have to start watching the buds when they start to fill out, and make sure you check after dark to see if they are opening - otherwise you come out the next morning and they have all finished.........

 But there is still beauty......raindrops on petals.......

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Moonflower - or more correctly - my Dutchman's Pipe Cactus.

I am linking into Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. Sincere thanks to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday in 2011. Thank you to all my wonderful new on-line friends for your comments and sharing throughout the year. I have enjoyed seeing your work and your part of the world. I wish you all a wonderful Christmas in the company of those you love.

Take care. I look forward to hearing from you.

Please click on the link to see the work of Mary and other amazing contributors at Little Red House - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House