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Monday, March 9, 2020

I'M TINY BUT SO FRAGRANT

I ventured into the greenhouse yesterday. I just haven't had the energy or the inclination to go out there. Naturally, I was wondering what kind of horror story I would find. It is mostly overwintering cactus and succulents but a few plants which require watering, including the flat of narrow leaf zinnias I started from seed. There was a sweet fragrance on the air and I looked up to see a cactus I had planted in the spring had a tiny flower. It's a flower that needs to be at nose level to appreciate. The flowers are less fragile than the night blooming cereus.


I remember last year when the mother cactus flowered I was so disappointed in the color and size of the flowers expecting a bloom like the night blooming cereus. It does make up for that in fragrance though. The original plant was a small piece I found lying on the ground near my son's house in Arizona. I still haven't managed to identify it although I think it does belong to the cereus family. There were tiny ants on the flower feeding on the pollen or nectar.

UPDATE;Thanks to c kind reader the cactus has been identified as Myrtillocactus geometrizans.

This morning I spotted flowers on the pink jasmine, Jasminum polyanthum. 



It doesn't always have a good year because of late freezes. Located in a sheltered corner of the garden and protected on both sides by walls the plant can make it through light frosts of which we have had four this year but flowering so early really took me by surprise.
It's a large vine that really needs strict control. It will run along the ground sending down roots at every node. Periodic cutting down to the ground will keep it in check.
It was raining but I did just step out to get  photograph and drink in the fragrance. At least I a not missing the gene for smelling the fragrance of these two plants.
Maybe I'll get my gardening mojo back soon.

6 comments:

  1. Your gardening mojo hasn't gone anywhere, Jenny. I love that cactus - it looks a lot like Cereus repandus.

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    1. Thanks for the id. I had come across one photo that looked like mine and it did have than name but all the outer photos on the website were quite different. It does no have a long tubular throat but i tight against the stem. And it did come from a very tall plant.

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  2. Your gardening mojo may be still hibernating, but it's there! I hope you feel well enough to get back out and enjoy springtime in your garden soon!

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  3. That little bloom is simply gorgeous, glad you got to see it.

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  4. I’d like to suggest that your mystery cactus may be Myrtillocactus geometrizans. Cereus repandus has a much larger flower six inches or so across, often wider than the stem, and as you alluded to, it is attached with a long floral tube. Nice photo.

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    1. Thank you so much. I am sure you are right from the description of the flower on Myrtillocactus geometrizans on the web. I shall but a label on it and write it in my little book so I don't forget.

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