This ephiphyllum was found blooming at my mom’s garden. And right on Mother’s Day too. So it was a real nice surprise.
The plant is also known as Orchid cactus, night blooming Cereus, Queen of the Night and Dutchman’s Pipe Cactus. I like to think of it as an Orchid Cactus because it’s more of a succulent.
The flowers usually bloom in the summer or autumn. I actually got a cutting years ago from a friend’s garden and planted them in my mom’s garden. We didn’t know what color or type of bloom would show up. And the friend has since moved to Seattle for a few years now. But I am happy to see it’s a bright pink bloom instead of the usual white variety.
Here is the side view. The difference between the pink variety and the white one, is that the pink ones have a very light floral scent. Which is good for someone who is not fond of any strong perfume scent. Â
The only sad thing about this flower is that it blooms only for one night and dies the next day. Then again, maybe that makes it that much alluring.
Here is a photo of my dream hanging basket full of blooming Orchid Cactus. This may actually be a good way to grow them too.
Update: I picked the flower and put in a vase, it’s still blooming now. That is day 2. Let’s see if it will bloom for the rest of the week! So I was wrong, as this variety blooms much longer then the white variety. 
9:51 pm on May 11th, 2010
It’s so beautiful, your images came out real good. A perfect day for it to bloom, I hope your mom had a good Mother’s day.
12:52 am on May 15th, 2010
Hi Nye,
Thank you. Mom got a tropical fruit basket, I think she was happy. Basket of gold bars would be nice, but they are about $1,200 per ounce these days.
Her orchid cactus will be giving more blooms, but not until next month. These pink variety have become my favorite as the scent is light and the flower last at least 4 days.
11:14 pm on May 30th, 2010
[...] this is the one blooming epiphyllum from my last post. It was found blooming for about 3 to 4 days, much longer then the usual white variety. I [...]
12:58 pm on August 25th, 2010
please email me back, i want to order this queen of the night flower, because it’s really pretty. i want one for my mom’s new house.
mai lee kue
9:50 pm on August 29th, 2010
Hi Mai Lee Kue, thanks for visiting. Sorry I don’t sell any of these flowers. You can probably find them at an online epi shop or Ebay. Good luck!
12:53 pm on September 10th, 2010
[...] has tiny little spikes that can be painful if it you go near them. My favorite version is the large pink variety that bloom for days. This one is much more fleeting. It blooms for 1 day and sometimes just half [...]
10:43 pm on June 12th, 2011
Hello, I traveled to Idaho back in 2002 and purchased a small cactus, which does look similar to your pink orchid cactus pictured here. However, mine is like a pinkish/white, and blooms during the day and at night. It lives longer than one day, and it took NINE YEARS to mature to start blooming. This is the first summer (June) that I saw tens and twenty blooms that are huge and just gorgeous.
Perhaps you can tell me why my cactus blooms during the day and at night. It is in my greenhouse/back porch with my jasmines and gardenia and other tropical flowers.
11:13 pm on June 15th, 2011
Hi Susanne,
I guess there are many varieties, the ones that bloom for one night and the ones that last several days. You got the neat variety that gives you more lasting bloom. Especially after 9 years! Great story, thanks for sharing.
7:04 pm on May 25th, 2013
[...] In some ways the flower reminds me of the mini Orchid cactus (epiphyllum). [...]