by Lou Carrier
(Huntington beach , CA)
Plant with hanging pink blooms growing from flat leaves. Blooms are large and about a foot long.
Hi Lou, these pictures are of aging flowers, no longer in their full flush of beauty. The Orchid Cactus, as these tree dwellers are known rightfully deserve the name. The flowers as they open are gorgeous, and as you say, huge. These interesting plants have the most ugly and alien looking leaves, which are actually stems that have taken the place of leaves, which is why they are so green.
The flowers emerge directly from them, and come in all colors of the rainbow (almost!) and are red, pink, purple and shades of cream and white. Imagine looking up into the canopy of their native habitat of a jungle to see the blooms.
Of course, those would mostly be pale pink, it’s only after generations of hybridizing that we see all the other colors. You can see more about these epiphytes on the Epiphyllum page.
Happy Succulent Growing!
Jacki
