It's Showtime! Pitaya Bursts onto the Scene

A year or so ago I was investigating bizarre fruits that I might want to add to the finca. I came across the "Dragon Fruit," or Pitaya (Pitahaya). Since it is a cactus/succulent thing I didn't want to spend some bucks and mail order it so I put it in the back of my mind. Then I was at Eneida's Nursery in Cabo Rojo and whalla...there one was for $1.50. I thought our elevation was too high and we might be too wet but for that price I went for it. For a year I have been ignoring the ugly little plant and was just about to move it to a better climbing spot when some giant buds appeared!

We got a little rain and these buds tripled in size and got all elongated.

Then they started to do the "Little Shop of Horrors" thing (minus the singing)..I swear the bracts were moving and dancing about.

So every day several times a day I watched.

And watched some more.

Then I did an evening check (they are nighttime bloomers and it is only for around 18 hours or so) and they had burst into action! They were HUGE and beautiful and did I say huge?

Look at the size of them, they are almost coconut sized! They also had a very nice scent which I didn't expect.

So there in our yard are these gigantic blooms just waiting for bats to pollinate them. The only bad thing is that I probably won't get fruit since you need two different plants. There is a plant some miles away in the jungle but I have not seen buds or flowers on it.

With or without the fruit it is very exciting to witness the blooms since they are so short lived. I did some finger pollinating but it won't work. It just makes me scan websites for possibly the pink flowering one so next year (actually they bloom more than once a year) I can get fruit. Since they are so easy to propagate it is possible Eneida's uses one plant for stock so I don't want to get one from there. I can, however head to the jungle spot and break off a section to start...yeah that's what I'll do. If you haven't seen the fruit you should look it up on line. Supposedly you can eat them fresh as dessert or savory but I have only had them dried.

Look at all the frilly parts.This photo was at 6 in the morning just before it wilted into non-existence.

Pretty sensational!

Another addition to the finca is yet another cat. This little, and I mean little, kitty showed up hungry and very affectionate last night. What are we supposed to do? Ignore the hunger cries? Ignore the purring and rubbing? Well, we decided to ignore the protests of the other 11 until Jeff can find someone at work to take him or the other cats get tired of being bent out of shape about it. It slept inside, tried to pal around with the other hissing growling ones and curled up somewhere inside since we awoke to some little meows...anyone want a very nice little kitty?