Blooming cactus queen of the night in the botanical garden. Selenicereus (queen of the night) - home care
Every year, in mid-June, one of the tropical greenhouses of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden is open to the public until late at night - at this time, the amazing cactus "Queen of the Night", which settled in northern capital back in 1824. The scientific name of the plant selenicereus comes from the words "selena" - the moon and "cereus" - "similar wax candle", which in translation means "moon flower" or "blooming in the night." There are several types of selenicereus, which are called the "Queen of the Night". Selenicereus Macdonald (Selenicereus macdonaldiae) grows and blooms in the Botanical Garden of St. Petersburg. With the help of aerial "grasping" roots, the long, curved stems of selenicereus, resembling snakes, can climb high up. That is why it is also called the "snake" cactus.
More than 30 years ago, in the botanical greenhouse of Leningrad University, I was presented with a small cactus stalk. It took root and grew for many years, curling the window with its lashes. But at the age of 25, in early June, a small hairy tubercle (areola) appeared on the stem. Two weeks passed, and the tubercle grew, though only by 5 cm, and over the next two days it extended to almost 27 cm and a large bud appeared at the end, covered with gray long hairs. Around nine o'clock in the evening, the bud burst and began to open. By midnight, a flower with a diameter of 27 cm and almost the same size in length opened completely. The outer narrow brown-yellow petals straightened, and we saw a lot of inner snow-white petals surrounding a bunch of long stamens with yellow anther boxes at the ends. We could not fall asleep for a long time, but by five o'clock in the morning the petals of the flower suddenly drooped and hung like a washcloth, and from the magnificent bud there was a brown withered flower. It became clear why this plant is called the "Queen of the Night." In the following years, the amazing spectacle was repeated, and once Selenicereus even gave two huge flowers with a pleasant aroma of vanilla. In general, the flowering of selenicereus at home is a rather rare phenomenon.
Selenicereus is native to the tropical rainforests of Central and South America. The "Queen of the Night" is not only found there in a wild form, but also widely cultivated - its freshly picked stems and flowers are used in homeopathy.
The first mention of selenicereus as a popular fruit dates back to the 13th century. Its sweet and sour fruits, which the Spaniards called pitahaya, were known to the tribes of the Indians, modern California. Pitahayas were valued not only for their excellent taste, but also for their large yields.
Until now, the "Queen of the Night" is grown on small farms in southern Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Colombia, Vietnam, where the fruit is known as the Dragon Fruit, as well as in Israel (in the Negev desert). Cactus fruits are “berries” up to 8 cm long, pale red, juicy, fleshy, with a large number of small seeds, somewhat similar to gooseberries.
like a fruit or medicinal plant selenicereus is used mainly in southern countries. We northerners prefer to admire the flowering of this plant in the botanical gardens.
Today, the "Queen of the Night" blooms in many city and university botanical gardens in Europe: in Moscow, Kyiv, Minsk, Tyumen, Perm, Yalta, Tallinn, Tartu and other cities. Belgium and Japan have a collection of selenicereus.
Someone said that in St. Petersburg there are four Russian wonders of the world: the golden pantries of the Hermitage, the Grand Cascade of Fountains in Peterhof, the Amber Room in Tsarskoye Selo and the Queen of the Night cactus in the botanical garden.
Cactus "Queen of the Night" blooms once a year. It happens on one of the days of June with the onset of twilight and lasts only a few hours. The photo captures the moments of its flowering in the author's apartment
Reference. The Imperial Botanical Garden appeared in St. Petersburg in 1823 on the site of the Pharmaceutical Garden, founded by Peter the Great.
The Imperial Botanical Garden had the richest collection of amazing plants from all over the world - more than 1000 cacti. One of the "patriarchs" of this collection is the oldest cactus in Europe, the "Queen of the Night", which survived both the siege of Leningrad and the disorder of the years of perestroika. Until now, it grows in the greenhouse, completely braiding one of the walls with creeping shoots. The cactus blooms almost annually, releasing up to hundreds of buds.
Cactus "Queen of the Night" - rare and unique plant. It has earned its unique fame by the fact that it blooms only once a year, and even then only at night. The cactus "Queen of the Night" is also called the dragon flower.
There is a beautiful legend associated with him.
There is a belief that thousands of years ago a certain queen ruled over a small kingdom. She was kind, generous and very pretty, and so much so that she was embarrassed by her beauty and did not show herself to her subjects. She left her castle only once a year - on the darkest night. She went around her small estates and left gifts and letters at the doors of her people's houses. People, waking up in the morning, discovered these gifts and were happy. They simply idolized their queen.
But all good things come to an end sooner or later. The end of peaceful life in this kingdom has come. No one knows where this evil dragon came from and why he decided to attack this particular small kingdom. But he demanded to build himself huge chambers of gold and precious stones, cover the floors with carpets. The dragon warned that if the inhabitants of the small kingdom did not fulfill his requirements, he would eat the most beautiful girl every day. People came to despair, because all they had was love and kindness. They were so poor that they didn't even have carpets. But they could not explain this to the evil dragon - he simply did not want to listen to them. And then a beautiful queen came out to meet the fire-breathing serpent.
She asked him not to touch the defenseless people and invited him to eat himself instead of all the beauties of the kingdom. The dragon became thoughtful and promised not to touch anyone, but on the condition that the queen would give him all her beauty, and she herself would become as ugly a monster as he was. The girl happily agreed and held out her hands to the beast. At the same moment, the terrible fire-breathing monster turned into the most beautiful woman, and the queen into a completely nondescript prickly cactus, somewhat reminiscent of a winged serpent.
But whatever the appearance, nothing can destroy. Since then, until now, one night a year, the cactus "Queen of the Night" gives people a wonderful flower that can heal broken hearts. After all, kindness and a generous heart are eternal, unlike beauty, which blooms and fades.
Cactus "Queen of the Night" is used in homeopathy. Most valued are its young stems and flowers, from which the tincture is made. In medicine, when using extracts from this plant, the source material is first carefully examined, since it often happens that unscrupulous suppliers bring not the Queen of the Night cactus (photo attached), but common prickly pear.
The resulting homeopathic remedy is used in the treatment of angina pectoris, neurosis, to restore a weak heart muscle. However, almost all cacti (photos and names are given) are often used in homeopathy, but they healing properties still very little studied. No researchers have yet provided any accurate data on the effect of the alkaloids contained in the cactus, which have a positive effect on the heart.
Currently, the cactus "Queen of the Night" is increasingly attracting the attention of scientists involved in the development and research of drugs designed to improve cardiac activity. After all, as the legend says, this cactus is able to heal sick human hearts. It may well turn out that in this unsightly flower lies the salvation of the lives of many thousands of people. Like in the legend.
My strawberry beds have been around for ten years. I, of course, update the bushes. Earlier, when May and June were dry, I took two buckets of delicious berries and another half a bucket of berries covered with gray mold from my “plantation”. If the beginning of the summer was rainy, then I got two buckets of gray rot and only half a bucket of ripe strawberries. It's a shame to share the harvest with some rot! I launched an attack on this bastard. So, step by step - why my strawberries never get gray rot.
For the vast majority of my acquaintances, the idea of “not digging” sounds completely outlandish. Yes, it’s a sin to hide it, my husband (also of the old agrotechnical hardening) looks with pain at the undug beds. Although everything grows and bears fruit well on them. Therefore, in the spring, I allow him to dig something up so as not to radically break his worldview. We gradually get used to it: abrupt changes in habits are not for everyone. I will share my experience of farming "without a shovel".
With mushrooms, you can cook an infinite number of not only tasty, but also nutritious dishes, mushrooms are dried and preserved for the winter. It is not surprising that, closer to autumn, amateurs and professionals of "quiet hunting" en masse go out for mushrooms to the nearest (and not so) forest. At the same time, the number of poisonings by these gifts of the forest increases sharply. How to protect yourself from trouble by going to the forest for mushrooms, and how not to become a victim of low-quality mushrooms, we will tell in the article.
As a child, I was delighted with the fairy tale, where main character cleverly hid from the chase. He stuck twigs from a bush into the ground, and a dense, impenetrable green forest immediately grew up behind him. I have been experimenting with twigs since I was four years old. So, summer cuttings are a great opportunity to get a young seedling of the desired variety. The procedure is simple, fast and almost always it is possible even for beginners. Unsuccessful cuttings are associated with an obvious neglect of its basic principles.
Strawberry jam with pectin is prepared quickly and easily. Apple pectin (pectin powder) is commercially obtained from apple pomace. Pectin is added to many familiar products - in candy fillings, ketchup, marshmallows, marshmallows and marmalade. At home, pectin is used to make jam or jam as a thickener. The addition of pectin powder can significantly reduce the cooking time, and therefore save more vitamins.
No matter how modest a country or personal plot is, there is always a place for cucumbers. Experienced housewives will definitely choose the time to spin a few jars of their cucumbers for the winter. Moreover, with minimal care and observance of agricultural technology, you can grow an excellent crop. At the same time, only organic fertilizers can be used as dressings. What they are, how to cook them at home and correctly apply, you will learn from this article.
Among the plants that came to us from the Latin American rainforests, the magnificent walking iris is far from their most modest representative. Due to its thermophilicity, it remains a room-sized culture for countries with severe winters. Not losing one bit is enough large sizes, room neomarika looks elegant and very exotic. Flowers that can compete with orchids are a worthy reward for the special conditions that will have to be created for this plant.
Tomatoes "under the snow" - delicious and beautiful preparations of tomatoes for the winter, which got their name due to their resemblance to glass snow globes. In this recipe, I will show you how to cook marinated cherry tomatoes with garlic and dill. The role of snow in the marinade filling is played by finely chopped garlic. If you gently shake the pickle jar or turn it upside down, the garlic will spin in a dizzying whirlwind, no worse than artificial snowflakes in a glass bowl.
Of soil fertilizers, lime fertilizers have the highest calcium content, but inaccessible, - limestone and dolomite flour (of natural origin), conversion calcium carbonate, a waste from the production of nitrogen fertilizers, but more pure in composition than previous products. The action of these fertilizers is very slow. Usually, liming is carried out in the fall, so that part of the applied fertilizers dissolves in the soil and becomes available to plants in the spring.
It seems like only yesterday it was spring. But now summer is at its zenith, mid-July has come. At this time, all plants spend a lot of energy, micro and macro elements to maintain complex processes that take place inside them. And in order to provide them with violent flowering, improve the taste of fruits and help to overwinter more efficiently, it is necessary to apply fertilizers in a timely and correct manner, that is, to carry out multi-purpose top dressing. At the same time, nitrogen in them must be minimized.
Any gardener knows that there is no more tedious and thankless task than weed control. Weeding by hand or with the help of choppers and flat cutters takes too much effort and time, and the result, if it pleases, is not for long. You will not have time to go through the site to the end, and weeds are already reappearing in the weeded areas. And this is on an already inhabited area, and what can we say about virgin lands! How to quickly and permanently get rid of weeds, we will tell in the article.
Summer is not only a summer season, sun, vacation, warm sea, but also fresh vegetables, berries and fruits. However, today, when looking at the market stalls, the question more and more often arises: is it possible to eat such early watermelons, melons, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, and so on, which still could not ripen in any way? open ground? Are early vegetables and fruits dangerous? Do early watermelons and melons belong to the category of nitrate products that can cause poisoning?
Pies with minced meat in a pan - delicious rolls of tender curd dough with homemade minced meat and spicy seasonings. Such pies can be prepared in half an hour, quickly fried in a frying pan and served immediately on the table piping hot. The perfect dish for a situation when guests are already on the doorstep. fried pies According to this recipe, they turn out very juicy, they are prepared simply, they look festive, so I advise you to add the recipe to the piggy bank of holiday snacks - it will come in handy and you will love it!
Irises are spectacular, luxurious, attractive flowers that have long and firmly settled in our gardens. But, as usual, in any large family there are both favored minions and “poor relatives” deprived of attention. So at one time the surprisingly unpretentious and hardy Siberian irises turned out to be undeservedly relegated to the background - a real find for gardeners, especially in the northern regions. But now the time has come for them to be recognized.
Luxurious pastel caps of hydrangeas are equally impressive on garden bushes and on much more modest potted plants. Hydrangea flowering - their main advantage - can be fully appreciated regardless of the form of cultivation. These moisture-loving beauties with a special "elite" status grow well in the home format. They require a very careful selection of temperatures, and in general are demanding on conditions and care, but they also have few competitors.
In the project “50 Places and Events…” published on several popular travel sites, I proceeded from the premise that in the summer you need to walk more in order to see the maximum of what is “outside” in good weather. And, therefore, he attributed the Botanical Garden to the second part: autumn-winter-spring. But what if the weather suddenly turned bad in the summer? We decided to go ... to the Botanical Garden!
The usual reason for this, as a rule, is the flowering of the "Queen of the Night". And the flowering of the "Queen of the Night" is a separate St. Petersburg attraction. At the beginning of June in the means mass media(earlier - by radio) transmit a message: “Attention, the flowering of the Queen of the Night is expected in the Botanical Garden today. We invite everyone to the garden. Well, just think - the cactus has blossomed ... Many of them are out there - they bloom on the windows. But THIS is not an ordinary cactus, it is the "Queen of the Night" - Selenicereus grandiflora.
It comes from the tropical rainforests of Eastern Mexico and the Caribbean and Bahamas. In life, he is a creeper that does not attract attention to itself until it is time to bloom. But when it blooms ... White petals are surrounded by a golden halo of sepals, and yellow stamens and pistil emanating from the center emit a faint aroma of vanilla. And it is called so - “Queen of the Night”, because its fantastic huge flowers (up to 35 cm in diameter) have a whim to bloom only one single night, and die the next morning. In the Botanical Garden, this is the oldest surviving plant and it has been blooming there, scary to say, since 1824.
And thousands of people go, despite the night, the increased cost of tickets and non-working transport - it's worth it! The year before last, the pioneer brother managed to see the main thing - flowering plant. He talks about it like this.
» In all my life, somehow I still haven't gotten there. Heard or read the announcement, sighed: "Eh ..." - every time something interfered, or already missed it - it happened last night. So today - I read it on the Internet in the morning and forgot - we went for a walk, then and there ... And then in the evening, at eleven o'clock in the morning, I was sitting at home alone (my daughter left to open a visa on the Princess Anastasia before going to Iceland) and then came a "sudden owl "... And I ask myself:" Why are you sitting? Let's!" I break loose, dress warmly and run on the metro, go to the Petrogradskaya station and head to the entrance to the BotSad.
I expected to see a queue, but no - everything is calm, though people come from all sides. The garden also earns decently on this event - on ordinary days, an "adult" ticket costs 220 rubles, and for the "Queen ..." - 250. A very special atmosphere on the territory of the garden itself - people take leisurely walks, take pictures of the "remains" of spring luxury, a buffet will be set up for the needs of the walkers ... The last time I was there several years ago, I watched azaleas bloom in the mud, slush and cold of early spring in greenhouses
Selenicereus, or "Queen of the Night", has a delightful fragrant flower at sunset, which fades by morning. The botanical gardens organize special night tours for those wishing to see this spectacle. About the happy owners of flowering Selenicereus write in local newspapers. Unfortunately, there are few such amateur flower growers.
Selenicereus blooms
Selenicereus ( Selenicereus) - a cactus of tropical forests and the coast of Central and South America. It grows in forests, on the coast, on rocks and as an epiphyte on trees. It has hanging or creeping ribbed stems up to 2.5 cm thick. In nature, they are longer. Rigid aerial roots hang from thin thorny shoots. Selenicereus most time seems unattractive. Who likes a voluminous ball of intertwined shoots with thorns? And where can I find a place for it? In April, buds appear on the stems. At first, these are tiny fluffy balls that gradually increase in size, and then take shape in large buds. Finally, before sunset, a miracle happens: a huge White flower with countless petals and golden sepals. Its diameter is up to 35 cm! The room is filled with vanilla-honey aroma. By morning the flower fades.
The vagaries of the flowers of the "Queen of the Night"
Selenicereus grandiflorum ( S. grandiflorus) and its hybrids are called "Moonflower" or "Queen of the Night". Is this cactus capricious? Probably not. He just has his weak points. Selenicereus gets used to the conditions of detention and quickly adapts to any changes. But the first days he is under the influence of stress. It reacts to it by refusing to bloom and even by drying up buds ready to bloom. This year, the stress for our "Queen of the Night" was that we opened the windows of the loggia, which are located two meters from the cactus. Selenicereus reacted to this instantly: within a few hours, a huge bud fell off. The second bud at this time was a small fluffy ball. The cactus had enough time to adjust to the open windows, so this bud produced a wonderful flower. The reason for the fall of a bud or the rapid withering of a huge flower can be even electric lighting turned on at night or frequent camera flashes. Perhaps the bright light causes the "Queen of the Night" to get confused about the time of day and believe that it is morning. Selenicereus is adapted to flowering in the dark, in nature it is pollinated by nocturnal hawk moths.
"Queen of the Night" grew in the room until it grew a lot
How to care for selenicereus?
Lighting. Selenicereus should grow in a bright place. A pot with it can even stand in a room if it is light there. Our cactus has grown too long shoots and no longer fits in the room. A few years ago, we had to hang it on a glazed loggia oriented to the southwest. There is a lot of light and space. Another option - thinning the stems and shortening the aerial roots - we liked less. Many cactus lovers are helped out by a support to which shoots are tied. Excess sun on the loggia leads to the fact that in summer the cactus acquires a reddish tint, in winter the entire “tan” disappears.
Watering. In the spring, especially during the appearance of buds, spraying with warm water is useful. Young plants can be rinsed in the shower. In the summer, the cactus is regularly watered (avoiding waterlogging). Selenicereus rests from November to March. I rarely water during this dormant period. The cactus hibernates on the loggia at a temperature of +12 to 15?C.
Transfer. Selenicereus is best transplanted in early spring. The container must have good drainage. I have not transplanted the Queen of the Night for several years now, as this is difficult to do due to its size. So far this has not affected the quality of flowering. Selenicereus requires a more nutritious potting mix than most other cacti. In order to prevent prickly shoots from leaving numerous splinters on your hands, it is better to work in old leather mittens or gloves.
Top dressing. They feed the "Queen of the Night" with special fertilizers for cacti (in a reduced concentration). If you feed it with organic matter, then it will fatten to the detriment of flowering.
Where can I get the "Queen of the Night"?
The "Queen of the Night" can be found ... in the garbage. Few people come to terms with the fact that a prickly "monster" with long curved stems grows in the house. And they are thrown out without waiting for flowering. The easiest way is to grow selenicereus from cuttings, which are pre-dried. You can sow the seeds and wait for flowering 4 - 5 years. In stores, small selenicereuses are more often sold as "mini-cacti in assortment." "Queen of the Night" also happens in nurseries. In one greenhouse near Moscow, for a long time, an adult selenicereus was sold with a tag, but which was written: "Ampelous cactus." Nobody bought it: it was not clear how to push this prickly miracle into the car and take it home.
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