Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gardening

Add night-blooming cereus to your cactus garden for stunning white flowers at night

Caring for a night-blooming cereus cactus

By
A white flower on a cactus at night
Image used with permission by copyright holder

There are tons of flowering cacti you can plant in a rock garden for brilliant flowers during the day, but what if you want to enjoy your garden at night? For that, you’ll need to plant a night-blooming cereus. If you haven’t heard of this remarkable cactus, you’re in for a treat! Here’s everything you need to know about planting and caring for it.

Recommended Videos

Difficulty

Easy

What You Need

  • Night-blooming cereus (Queen of the Night or Dragon Fruit)

  • Sandy, well-draining soil or cactus-specific potting soil

  • Water

  • Location with plenty of space for growth

  • Area that gets morning sun and afternoon shade

A white Queen of the Night cactus flower
Image used with permission by copyright holder

What is a night-blooming cereus?

Night-blooming cereus is the common name for a group of cacti that bloom at night. Although many of the cacti are from the genus Cereus or a closely related genus (such as Hylocereus or Peniocereus), some are from a more distantly related genus, such as Epiphyllum or Harrisa.

No matter what genus each night-blooming cereus is from, there are a few consistent things. In addition to being cacti that bloom at night, night-blooming cereus have pale flowers. This makes them more visible in the dark, which is essential for them to pollinate. The main pollinators of night-blooming cereus cacti are moths and bats. Additionally, the flowers tend to be large with a strong smell, so the pollinators can find them more easily.

The reason these flowers need to be extremely easy for pollinators to find is that they are incredibly short-lived plants. Some species bloom for only one night, while others might bloom for a week with individual flowers lasting only one or two nights.

A white and yellow dragon fruit cactus flower
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Planting cereus

Here's how to plant your night-blooming cereus:

Step 1: Choose a fitting variety.

Two popular ones are Queen of the Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) and Dragon Fruit (Selenicereus undatus or Hylocereus undatus).

Step 2: Plant your cactus where it will get morning sun and afternoon shade, or bright, indirect light indoors.

Related

Step 3: Plant it in sandy, well-draining soil, or use cactus-specific potting soil for indoor plants.

Step 4: Choose a location with plenty of room.

Night-blooming cereus cacti can grow quite large: between 10 and 20 feet tall! Make sure to plant it away from structures and other plants.

A tall cereus cactus
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Caring for a night-blooming cereus

Here's how to care for your cactus:

Step 1: Water your night-blooming cereus only when the soil is completely dry.

Watering a cactus can be tricky, but these plants do resist droughts. Cacti will recover from underwatering much more quickly than they will overwatering.

Step 2: Keep your cactus warm in the winter.

If you’re growing it indoors, be sure to keep it away from drafty windows or air vents.

Step 3: Reduce watering during fall and winter.

Step 4: Watch closely for flowers in early to midsummer, typically around June.

Depending on the exact type of night-blooming cereus you have, you may not see flowers until the cactus is a few years old.

Enjoying these rarely seen blooms on a warm summer night, perhaps with friends around a fire pit, might sound like a perfect night to you. If it does, these tips will help you get started growing a night-blooming cereus right away. They are short-lived flowers but well worth the wait!

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Cayla Leonard
Cayla Leonard
Contributor
Cayla Leonard is a writer from North Carolina who is passionate about plants.  She enjoys reading and writing fiction and…
How to grow winter jasmine for January blooms
Growing your own winter jasmine shrub
Yellow winter jasmine flowers

If the long, cold months of winter have left your garden looking cold and empty, it might be time to start planning your spring garden. There are a number of early-blooming spring flowers you can choose from, including classics like tulips and daffodils. If you want something a bit larger than your standard bulbs, you should consider planting winter jasmine. Not familiar with this plant? Don’t worry, we’ll answer all your questions about winter jasmine care so you can get started growing your own.
What is winter jasmine?

Winter jasmine, or Jasminum nudiflorum, is a shrub with thin, vine-like branches and bright yellow flowers. In its native habitat of China, it's among the earliest blooming shrubs, blooming right at the end of winter and beginning of spring. In the U.S., it can actually bloom even earlier, sometimes beginning in November, if the weather stays mild. However, it most commonly begins blooming in January or February, typically continuing until March.

Read more
How to care for coreopsis, a long-blooming plant
Caring for cheerful yellow coreopsis flowers
Yellow coreopsis flowers

When planning a garden that is low maintenance and environmentally friendly, one of the first plant categories you should look to is native wildflower species. These flowers aren’t just beautiful -- they’re also easy to care for and provide food and shelter for many native creatures! One such wildflower is coreopsis, a cheerful yellow flower native to most of the U.S. If you want to get started growing your own coreopsis flowers today, then here’s what you need to know about coreopsis care.
Planting coreopsis

Coreopsis can grow from seedlings or mature plants, but are often started from seeds. Like other types of wildflowers, coreopsis seeds are easy to grow. Seeds should be planted no deeper than half an inch and can either be planted directly in your garden after the last frost of the year has passed or started indoors a few weeks beforehand and transplanted after the last frost. If you want a more natural-looking wildflower garden, you can scatter the seeds over the area rather than planting each one individually.

Read more
How to care for the monkey tail cactus for endless blooms
Tricks for taking care of the unique monkey tail cactus
A monkey tail cactus with pink flowers

If you live in a hot, dry climate then you might be looking for drought-tolerant desert plants to fill out your garden. There are so many fantastic cacti, shrubs, flowers, and trees to choose from, but not all of them are suited to container gardens. If you want a beautiful and unique cactus that you can grow in a container or outdoors, you should consider getting a monkey tail cactus. Never heard of it, or not sure how to grow one? We have you covered in this simple guide to monkey tail cactus care.
What is a monkey tail cactus?

The monkey tail cactus, or Cleistocactus colademononis, is a cactus native to the Andes mountains in Bolivia and Argentina. They’re adapted to high altitudes, rocky soil, and lots of sun. These cacti are actually epiphytic (like some types of orchids), meaning they don’t always grow in soil. Instead, their roots cling and burrow into the stone sides of cliffs.

Read more