What’s Ugly is Now Beautiful

I knew my night blooming cactus ( ) was about to start blooming. Apparently it blooms more than once a year because it was in October that I shared photos when it first bloomed. My friend had a big pot of this, a piece broke off when I was watering their plants once, I brought it home and stuck it in a pot and now it’s huge. Actually, it desperately needs to be repotted. I stuck it in a one gallon plastic pot. The plant is now taller than I am and has split the pot and will no longer stand up without being propped up. Maybe, if I can get out there before it gets too hot, I’ll repot it today.

Most of the time, I’m not paying attention and it blooms and I’ve totally missed the blossom but only see the spent bloom.  You can see yesterday’s bloom off to the left of the photo.

This morning I was able to see three blooms. See the ragged edge below the bloom? That’s where it got close enough to the fence that the chickens could peck on it!

I went out and took pictures. Then Vince came in and said “Did you see that the UGLY plant had made beautiful flowers?” I told him yes, I saw and yes, I took pictures and that this wasn’t the first time it had bloomed. He said “I had no idea something so ugly could make such a pretty flower!”

Not only is it beautiful but it’s very fragrant.

It made me think . . there’s so much beauty we fail to see, whether in humans, plants, wildlife. Often, a casual glance and that’s all we absorb. As with this plant, the beauty may fade quickly so we need to notice it while we can. It makes me love my ugly cactus even more. I’m glad I picked up that little broken stem and stuck in a pot.

You can see pictures of others here. They’re really Epiphyllum Oxypetalum but, to me, it’s a night blooming cactus.