Call it orchid cactus or epiphyllum, it's a plant that hangs around
THE CALIFORNIA GARDEN
With a brief window for blossoms and little demand for it at nurseries, the plant still has its admirers.
THE ORCHID cactus might be called the Cinderella of the garden world. Most of the year the plant, with disheveled, arched, trailing branches, is easy to ignore. But from February through June, magnificent flowers, some as large as 13 inches across, pop from the notched branches in brilliant shades of red, orange, violet, yellow and gold.
Nature's clock runs out after four days at most, and the blooms close and die. But happily the show continues. The plants, called epiphyllum, are often loaded with buds that extend the blooming period to several weeks as long as night temperatures remain below 50 degrees. With warmer nights, buds may open all at once, shortening the season.
The flashy flowers have long had their admirers. Ganna Walska bought an epiphyllum collection and was soon hanging them in oak trees at her Lotusland estate in Montecito. In one photograph, the Polish soprano is seen wearing a flower behind her ear. In the late 1950s, Bauer Pottery featured a line of dishes called Epiphyllum Spray. And today, hundreds of the plants are auctioned on EBay every month, often bought by epi-holics, as devotees jokingly call themselves.
There are 13,000 hybrids registered by the Epiphyllum Society of America. Fifteen hundred make their home at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, where society volunteers lovingly care for them.
But mention epiphyllum and most people's eyes glaze over, even those who work at nurseries. It's somewhat understandable, because nurseries seldom stock the plants, and the flowers don't last long enough to be sold by florists.
"They're not really showy plants unless they're blooming, and most of the time they're not," says Rex Yarwood, nursery buyer for Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar.
"Cactus growers don't grow it, because it's not commonly requested," Chris Livingston, assistant manager at Green Arrow Nursery in North Hills says. "It's a plant passed over the backyard fence. People trade among themselves. You just break off a piece and put it in potting soil. It's really easy to grow."
Richard Kohlschreiber, former president of the society, explains that epiphyllum are not what people usually think of as cactuses. They may have small hair-like thorns, but these cactuses are from the jungle, not from the desert. Epiphyllum are at home in the crotches of trees, hence they are epiphytic (live on trees), not parasitic.
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