It starts to open at dusk, full bloom at night, and dies the next day.
I forgot to take its bloom at night, but I got it early the next morning.
It is an Echinopsis, and I think the specie name is Werdermannii.
Here below is some more information about this lovely flower.
Echinopsis is a genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. As of October 2023, there are about 20 accepted species, ranging from large and treelike types to small globose cacti. The name derives from echinos hedgehog or sea urchin, and opsis appearance, a reference to these plants' dense coverings of spines.
They are remarkable for the great size, length of tube, and beauty of their flowers, borne upon generally small and dumpy stems.
This is what it looked like on the previous day.
Oh yes, we knew that it would bloom overnight.
Early the next day, and even after it had started to lose some of its colors, it was still beautiful. We had many of the flowers last season, and I hope that the line of echinopsis plants in our garden will all bloom again. It was really a great show last year, and let's wait and see if it will be the same again in this new season.
Two closer shots of it below.
And then later in the afternoon, it started to close.
We are always so sad to see it closing, as it is really a delight to see it in full bloom.
There are still two developing stems that will grow in a while, and then we will see the flowers again.
All that delicate, intricate perfection in the design of that flower, only to last for 24 hours. A brief flash of beauty, and we are asleep at night when it shows its colors in full. Who knows, when I see the other Echinopsis plants getting ready to bloom, I will get them in the dark of night. We have developed a simple system to get them at night. My wife shines the flashlight on them, and I switch my camera to the flash setting.
I have to remember all of these things, as last season is far away and I have already forgotten the specie name of this flower. But I am lucky, as I can blame old age:) Any case, we love cactii and also succulents, as they are all self-contained plants, and many of them have stunning flowers. The little sunbirds also think so, as they sip the nectar from the tubes of some of the succulent flowers.
And that's all friends.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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