My San Pedro Cactus...

I had never heard of the Trichocereus Pachanoi "San Pedro Cactus" before moving here but there were a number in the garden of our new home when we arrived.  It is found naturally in the Andes of Peru and Ecuador and is known as the sacred cactus of the Inca kings. I have read that if it is cut up and boiled then the residual water contains mescaline which is a hallucinogenic drug but I won't be testing that out!!

As you can see they grow in columns, about one foot a year, up to 20+ feet with many branches - cuttings are easily taken by just chopping a branch and replanting it in dry ground and, with no watering necessary, they thrive.

We thought them ugly and were tempted to cut them down until one day they started to flower.  Each year, from about April onwards, tiny buds begin to appear - every spiky prickle has the potential to produce a flower.

The buds, then flowers, continue to appear over several months, usually from May through to early August.  Sometimes there will be just a few in bloom and sometimes literally hundreds.

Each flower is very shortlived though.  The bloom doesn't appear until late evening, well after dark, in the region of 10 pm and, if not up early the following morning, they will already be wilting.

Earlier this week there was a great show one morning 

They really are a totally beautiful sight in the very early morning sunlight and this photo was captured at 6.30am as this batch will already be dying by breakfast time. Just another one of the truly magical moments for me at my home in the Dominican Republic.