Night Blooming Cereus & Dragon Fruit

Aloha All,

This time of year one of my favorite flowers and fruits are gracing us with their beauty and bounty.
The Night Blooming Cereus is a spineless climbing cactus that produces large white blossoms with lush yellow centers. Their fragrance is quite intoxicating and perfumes the night air between mid- summer to early fall. The exotic flowers are short lived, blooming into the night sky and staying open and vibrant long enough for the busy bees of the early morning to collect their pollen and start the mysterious Dragon Fruit on it's path.

I thought one had to hand pollinate these flowers to produce fruit.
My Oahu guest told he as he was handing me arm fulls of this delicious and expensive fruit, that the bees and bugs do the work for him. I went to go check on mine, and low and behold, three little yellow Dragon fruit were growing!!! I was so excited! I just went back to check on them at sunset and noticed there was only one left. :( Maybe the ducks flew up on top of the orchid house and ate them? I don't know, but my excitement was short lived...I might have to bag them to keep them safe.

The meat is delicious, soft and moist a bit like a melon, but, they almost melt in your mouth.
"Broke da mouth" as we say..ono, yum..I'll keep trying to get fruit, and one of these years, I'll get to pick them off the top of my orchid house.

Thanks, Steve, for bringing the bounty from Oahu!
Lucky guests at breakfast these last couple of days.

Enjoy the garden, where ever it might be!

With Aloha,
Cherie
www.maui-bed-and-breakfast.com
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