With the amount of rain we have had so far this spring, I thought April would be a good month to do an article on a flower. In recent years, I began online communications with former UCLA basketball guard and retired actor Michael Warren. Warren played three years for UCLA and later became known for his role of Officer Bobby Hill on the NBC series Hill Street Blues.
His daughter-in-law is actress Jessica Alba.
I was browsing social media and came across a post attributed to Warren that was referring to the flower known to me as a night-blooming cereus. He referred to the plant as “Queen of the Night”. I’ve come to realize that the flower itself has been given many names, some interchangeable, but the discussion we started with was for the same flower.
He shared several images with me of the plant in his home and how he has cared for it over the years. In return, I shared with him some images of the plant as well as its many off-springs my family has started from its cuttings. The mother plant of the night blooming cereus in my family originally belonged to my Great Grandmother Dona (Tetrick) Bice, who died in 1954. As of this year, the plant has had a home in the Bice Family for well over 70 years.
Michael was amazed at the plant’s longevity and was hopeful that his plant will attract similar attention from his own family. He shared with me that his plant had 16 blooms over a 2-3 night period. He was further amazed when I showed him a photograph of the plant with 17 blooms in one night.
He has taken literally thousands of photographs of his plant in bloom. He has even gone so far as to sell images of the flower as well as create a clothing line that depicts the bloom on ladies apparel.
It’s hard to imagine that the night-blooming cereus plant can have such an attractive blossom because the foliage itself is far less than attractive. It’s a member of the cactus family, generally requires little water, and the leaves will sometimes burn if water gets on them during direct sunlight.
Although no image could depict the fragrance the bloom sets off, I can assure you that it has a unique and welcoming attraction.
That’s it though. It’s a one-time bloom. Once the first rays of sunshine begin to hit the flower, then the white petals will begin to droop and the blossom will die. Hence the names, “night blooming” and “queen of the night”.
The submitted photo depicts the plant in full bloom late one night in the late 1940’s. Taken in
Greenhouse #2, my Grandmother [Betty, daughter-in-law of the plant’s original owner] is holding the plant. I shared a similar image with Warren that was taken on the same night, only it depicted my Grandmother’s legs next to the plant. I’m sure my Grandma would not be thrilled that I’ve shown an image of her legs to a famed former actor, but I would just laugh with her and tell her, “that is the ‘story behind the photo’.”