Orchid Power - "Queen of the Night"
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"Queen of the Night"
One of the most interesting, although possibly apocryphal, tales surrounding the plant comes from garden writer and editor Kathleen Fisher.
Kathy was scheduled to attend a Garden Writers Conference in Philadelphia at the same time her Epiphyllum was slated to bloom. Without hesitation, she packed up her unwieldy companion, secured it in her van and drove to the conference. Rumors of a late-night soiree, bottles of Pinot Grigio and a steady stream of garden writers making a pilgrimage to Kathy's hotel room to enjoy the botanical spectacle are unsubstantiated.
Kathy's plant is itself an offshoot from a sizeable plant owned by David Ellis, editor of The American Gardener, and is furthermore the progeny of a living room-sized plant nurtured by a neighbor of David's, a German goldsmith who escaped the Holocaust. The plant in my office, which normally occupies a respectable portion of my rooftop garden, has subsequently been propagated and shared with other friends.
In fact, in exchange for one rooted cutting, a coworker provided me with a plant from his native India coincidentally called "Queen of the Night," another fragrant nocturnal bloomer.
The unique history and pedigree of these hand-me-down plants seems to keep growing as quickly as the plants themselves, making these green specimens interesting from both a human and a horticultural perspective, and as equally endearing for the personal connections they inspire.
"Queen of the Night"
One of the most interesting, although possibly apocryphal, tales surrounding the plant comes from garden writer and editor Kathleen Fisher.
Kathy was scheduled to attend a Garden Writers Conference in Philadelphia at the same time her Epiphyllum was slated to bloom. Without hesitation, she packed up her unwieldy companion, secured it in her van and drove to the conference. Rumors of a late-night soiree, bottles of Pinot Grigio and a steady stream of garden writers making a pilgrimage to Kathy's hotel room to enjoy the botanical spectacle are unsubstantiated.
Kathy's plant is itself an offshoot from a sizeable plant owned by David Ellis, editor of The American Gardener, and is furthermore the progeny of a living room-sized plant nurtured by a neighbor of David's, a German goldsmith who escaped the Holocaust. The plant in my office, which normally occupies a respectable portion of my rooftop garden, has subsequently been propagated and shared with other friends.
In fact, in exchange for one rooted cutting, a coworker provided me with a plant from his native India coincidentally called "Queen of the Night," another fragrant nocturnal bloomer.
The unique history and pedigree of these hand-me-down plants seems to keep growing as quickly as the plants themselves, making these green specimens interesting from both a human and a horticultural perspective, and as equally endearing for the personal connections they inspire.
posted by Ralph Brownly @ 6:05 PM
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