Over 30 years ago someone gave me an ugly long thick leaf and only told me the name. I planted it in a pot and kept it inside in the winter and brought it outside in the summer (here from May to late September)
It grew! and I kept moving it in and out yearly.
One year we were outside walking about 11 pm. near our house and I smelled the most wonderful fragrance, like gardenias. When we got home we could see the cereus had bloomed and it was fragrancing the air! By morning the blossoms had faded and died.
Since then the first leaf has produced such a large plant that I began cutting off leaves and shoots and giving them away as well as making more for ourselves. I read that they attract bats and the bats eat the mosquitoes so I wanted to have as many local people growing these plants as possible. Over the years I have given away so many shoots with instructions about their care and the potential for these late night fragrant blooms. Have a party and invite guest to experience them. They are such a short term wonderful experience.
I still have a large plant that I bring in and out annually. What a gift that ugly leaf has turned out to be!
