Mead Botanical Garden (Instagram | Website) in Winter Park has entered bloom watch mode for its Night-Blooming Cereus plants, which produce spectacular white flowers for just one night each year.
The Night-Blooming Cereus, also called the Queen of the Night, typically blooms at the end of May or in the first week of June, and their fuzzy little buds have started to appear on several plants in the garden.
The exact bloom date is unpredictable until the day of, when the buds swell and take on a yellowish tinge, but when the flowers are ready, the garden will announce the bloom day through social media and its newsletter. The flowers begin opening around dusk and unfurl dramatically enough that visitors can watch the movement in real time. By sunrise the following morning, the blooms will have wilted and will start to fall off.
The flowers are large and produce a sweet fragrance powerful enough to fill an entire space, as it’s meant to attract night pollinators.
On bloom night, Mead Botanical Garden will keep its gates open until 10 p.m. and illuminate the Night-Blooming Cereus plants from sundown to 10 p.m. for public viewing. The easiest plant to spot climbs a pine tree just inside the front gate at 1300 South Denning Drive. Another is located nearby.
There’s also a crowd-sourced map of plants in the area available HERE.
