One of the things I enjoy doing when not writing is gardening. Whether outside or inside, I adore plants. All kinds of plants. From the most common to the exotic. This is a tale about a plant that many would call unusual. I love it!

My husband fondly calls it ‘Monster’. And when I care for it, he calls me, ‘Morticia’.

I don’t really spray dust on it.

My love for Monster started years ago, when a friend asked me to care for her plants while she was on an archaeology assignment in Africa for several months. Monster took up prime real estate in the west facing window of our kitchen. One night, she bloomed. The most beautiful flower I’d ever grown.

So…I took a cutting. Just one shoot. Seven years later, you see the plant above. In those seven years, it never bloomed.

Now here is the thing–the thing that feels supernatural…the other morning these appeared.

Tune the theme for Little Shop of Horrors.

The evening before it bloomed…

By midnight it looked like this…

The last picture is from the following morning. The Night-blooming Cereus flower lasts for only one night then it’s gone.

~Dawn Marie