but see, this ugly, unruly plant has a secret. :o) it holds inside itself this magical, beautiful, heavenly, gigantic, most wonderfully aromatic flower youve ever seen and smelled in your life. and i really mean that. it blooms in september, but sadly, it only blooms at night and once it blooms, the blossom will only last until morning, when it will drop off and die. some years you get several blooms and other years you get just one. its name is the night blooming cereus. but isnt it beautiful? and dont let the size of the image fool you. that blossom is bigger than my hand! :o) for the last several years, ive attended my friends 'blooming night' party. and each year i and my family have learned more and more about this plant. i was given a cutting 3 years ago and its doing well but they say it will take 7-10 years for the plant to mature and bloom. but the kids and i are having so much fun learning about and studying this plant!
i enjoy going to my friends house and usually take the kids with me. we dont go till 10:00PM and stay till about 11:30PM. the bloom usually peaks around midnight.
my friend lives with and takes care of his 99 year old mom. she turns 100 in 1 week 2 days! see? :o)
anyway, part of the big deal of the night is seeing his mom see the flowers. i absolutely adore both my friend, willis and his mommy, the sweet miss jessie. :o) here are a few special pics from that evening.
ive taken these three pics, matted them and put them in a very lovely frame.
im going to give it to miss jessie/willis for her bday.
i know willis will be thrilled! i cant wait!!!!! :o)
im going to give it to miss jessie/willis for her bday.
i know willis will be thrilled! i cant wait!!!!! :o)
***edited to add***
i just found out willis has already printed out several of the pics, bought himself a lovely frame and ALREADY made his own collage. *pout*
anyway, heres a pic that was taken
on that evening of me and mandy
by jeniffffer, another unschooling mom! :o)
i'm gonna go cry about my pic surprise now.......
